'Unseen' News and Views
Tobacco smokers who quit at least four weeks before undergoing surgery not only have a lower risk of complications, but also show better results six months later than those who continue, the United Nations health agency said on Monday [20 January 2020]. (*).
20 January 2020 (UN News)* — Twenty-two journalists were reported killed in the Latin America and Caribbean region in 2019, making it the deadliest part of the world for the press, followed by 15 in Asia-Pacific, and 10 in Arab States.
– As the United Nations commemorates its 75th anniversary this year, the financially-crippled Organization is also saddled with a rash of administrative problems, plus an ongoing cash crisis, perhaps one of the worst in history.
Credit: United Nations
At a town hall meeting with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month, UN staffers in Geneva, led by the Staff Coordinating Council (SCC), raised several issues, including the impact of the illegal pay cut on incomes, family life, and staff morale, and the growing number of obstacles to career development.
From sophisticated spyware attacks to mass phishing via smartphones and the rise of facial recognition technology, the range and reach of surveillance threats to human rights defenders is growing.
Sebastien Thibault/agoodson.com (Image from Amnesty International).
Ravenous swarms threaten entire East Africa subregion – FAO scales up its emergency response
Shilabo, Ogaden, Somali region – Ethiopia – A herd of camels is trying to find its way through an invasion of locust.
Rome/Nairobi (FAO)* – Desert Locust swarms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia – already unprecedented in their size and destructive potential – could swell exponentially and spill over into more countries in East Africa if efforts to deal with the voracious pest are not massively scaled up across the region, FAO warned today [20 January 2020].
Çeşme, Western Turkey 14 January 2020 (IOM)* – “I saw some light of hope in people’s eyes hoping that their children or wives were alive but I had to give them the terrible news that some of their family members had died. Then I saw the deepest level of helplessness and desperation in their eyes. I had to inform a recently wed man that his wife and baby had died. I cannot find words to express how he hugged his deceased wife and child as a last farewell.’’
A father and son huddle to keep warm in a Turkish Coast Guard rescue boat waiting to reach land last month. IOM’s Mediterranean Response Team has provided humanitarian assistance to migrants rescued in the Aegean Sea since 2016. © IOM 2019 /Bekir ERDİNÇ’
Speaking at a major, high-level summit on Libya, held in the German capital Berlin on Sunday [20 January 2020], UN Secretary-General António Guterres evoked the disastrous humanitarian situation faced by thousands of civilians, as conflict in the North African country grows deeper and more destructive. (*).
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 