13 January 2020 (UN News)* — It is “essential” for China to continue investigating the source of a previously unknown strain of coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Monday [13 January 2020], following confirmation that an infected patient is being treated in Thailand.
US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | The MERS coronavirus, digitally imaged.
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In its statement, WHO identified the patient as a traveller from Wuhan, in China, who was hospitalized in Thailand on 8 January. According to Thai authorities, the patient is recovering from the illness.
The head of the UN health agency, WHO, has set out his urgent global health challenges for the next ten years – designated the “Decade of Action” by the UN General Assembly” – and underscored the importance of investing in public health, in a statement released on Monday [13 January 2020](*).
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote that the list of challenges is a response to concern that leaders are not committing sufficient resources to health, and are putting “lives, livelihoods and economies in jeopardy”.
Comparing health concerns with peace and security, Mr Ghebreyesus pointed out that many countries are willing to invest in protection against terrorist attacks, but not to allocate money to halting the spread of a virus, even though a pandemic may be far more deadly, and more economically damaging.
In 1960 Chile was shaken by the largest earthquake ever recorded before. Its magnitude was 9.6 degrees on the Richter logarithmic scale, which has a maximum of 10.
At present, history is taught as though power struggles were its most important aspect. Furthermore, the present teaching of history is indoctrination in nationalism. We need to reform our teaching of history so that the emphasis will be placed on the gradual growth of human culture and knowledge, a growth to which all nations and ethnic groups have contributed.
John Scales Avery
A New Freely Downloadable Book
I would like to announce the publication of a book, which reviews the lives and thoughts of some of the women and men who have contributed importantly to the development of astronomy, from ancient times to the present. The book may be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link:
Bolsonaro has shown little respect for the Indigenous people of Brazil, as he conitnues to promote commercial projects on their lands.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro looks on as he leaves the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 9, 2020. | Photo: Reuters (Photo posted here fromteleSUR).
12 January 2020 (teleSUR)* — Brazil’s right-wing regime said it was pushing ahead with its plans to mine on tribal lands, despite the objections of the people that live in these targeted areas.
Inaction when it comes to the fight back against damaging climate change is not an option, the President of the UN General Assembly told a major energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Friday [10 January 2020] (*).
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UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek | The low-lying island nation, Tuvalu, in the Pacific Ocean is particularly susceptible to higher sea levels caused by climate change.
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Tijani Muhammad-Bande was addressing the International Organization for Renewable Energy High-Level meeting on the particular threat faced by Small Island Developing States, or SIDS, and their partners in development.
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan 6 2020 (IPS)* – Currently, approximately 300 million tons of oil-based plastic waste are produced every year. A significant amount of plastic waste ends up in the oceans, having a detrimental effect on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. Most of this waste originates from the Asia-Pacific region.
10 January 2020 (UN Environment)* — The huge wildfires in Australia, Amazon, California, the Congo basin and Indonesia have drawn the world’s attention to the risks associated with extended periods of unusually hot and dry weather, which is an effect of climate change.
The global average temperature is now 1.1°C higher than at the beginning of last century. Higher temperatures create, in some parts of the world, drier conditions, increasing the likelihood and intensity of wildfires, and megafires.
As is currently occurring in Australia, the jump in the number of fires in Brazil’s huge tropical forest region last August sparked international alarm.
Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil, Brazil August 17, 2019. | Photo: Reuters (photo posted here fromteleSUR).
9 January 2020 (teleSUR)* — Brazil’s Amazon region last August registered 30,901 fires, a figure almost three times that for the same month in 2018 and the worst for the month in the last decade, all of this resulting from the drought, the high temperatures and – in large part – deforestation caused by man, a governmental agency reported Wednesday [8 January 2020].
On the 75th anniversary of United Nations, building a new world order has become an urgent matter.
75th anniversary of United Nations (Photo from Wall Street International).
9 January 2020 (Wall Street International)* — “Order!” shouted in the House of Commons John Bercow, the peculiar and efficient speaker, with his strong and resolute voice. And we all felt comforted to see how the diverse and sometimes extravagant representatives of UK peoples managed to keep the composure they need to carry out the tasks they have been entrusted with.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 