17/02/2021
17 February 2021 (UN News)* — The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has warned of the potential for a sharp uptick in violence on Wednesday, as protests continue against the 1 February military takeover of the government.
Unsplash/Kyle Petzer | A pagoda at dawn in downtown Yangon, the commercial hub of Myanmar.
Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said in a statement that he is “terrified” that violence could break out, as additional soldiers have been deployed in towns and cities, including the commercial hub Yangon, where demonstrations are planned, following reports that a “secretive trial” of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint began on Tuesday [16 February 2021].
“In the past, such troop movements preceded killings, disappearances, and detentions on a mass scale,” he said.
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17/02/2021
16 February 2021 (UN News)* — Pregnant women are amongst the tens of thousands of people in need of assistance in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where fighting between the Government and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been ongoing since November 2020. Hiwot* is one of them.
© WFP/Leni Kinzli | Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region.
“When you think about your future, you never plan to be uprooted from the comfort of your home and find fragile safety in a tent,” said 24-year-old Hiwot, from Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray Region.
Yet this is exactly where she found herself in early December, while she was seven months pregnant. Fighting intensified around her neighbourhood, forcing her and her husband to flee.
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17/02/2021
16 February 2021 (UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed at ongoing atrocities carried out by armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have become part of a systematic pattern to disrupt civilians’ lives, instill fear and create havoc. | Español | Français
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16/02/2021
Cities across the United States are seeing numerous unprovoked attacks against Asian-Americans, particularly older people, according to a new study by a coalition documenting and addressing anti-Asian hate and discrimination.
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16/02/2021
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 2021 (IPS)* – Vaccine developers’ refusal to share publicly funded vaccine research findings is stalling broader, affordable vaccinations which would more rapidly contain COVID-19 contagion. The pandemic had infected at least 109 million people worldwide, causing over 2.4 million deaths as of mid-February.
Anis Chowdhury
Avoidable delays in preventive vaccination are imposing terrible burdens on the world economy and human welfare, with economic disruption demanding more relief and recovery measures. They have cost US$28 trillion in lost output globally, with developed countries contracting by 7% in 2020.
Avoidable vaccination delays
National capacities to cope with the pandemic have been largely determined by means and power.
Thus, access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, personal protective equipment and other pandemic supplies has been severely lacking in most African and other poor countries.
At current vaccination rates, it would take “not one or two years, but six years” to reach 75% global coverage, currently considered the minimum to achieve ‘herd immunity’ against COVID-19.
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16/02/2021
UN Environment Assembly sets stage for green recovery
REUTERS/Pilar Olivares / 15 Feb 2021
15 February 2021 (UNEP)* — In addition to the tragic loss of life, COVID-19 has rolled back decades of progress on poverty, gender and health. It has exposed social and economic inequalities and the inextricable link between human and planetary health.
The pandemic is just one symptom of the damage that human activity has caused. The extraction and consumption of nature’s resources have also resulted in crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and growing volumes of pollution and waste.
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15/02/2021
Victoria Nuland exemplifies the neocons who have led US foreign policy from one disaster to another for the past 30 years while evading accountability. It is a bad sign that President Joe Biden has nominated Victoria Nuland for the third highest position at the State Department, Under Secretary for Political Affairs.
Rick Sterling
As a top-level appointee, Victoria Nuland must be confirmed by the US Senate. There is a campaign to Stop her confirmation.
The following review of her work shows why Victoria Nuland is incompetent, highly dangerous and should not be confirmed.
Afghanistan and Iraq
From 2000 to 2003, Nuland was US permanent representative to NATO as the Bush administration attacked then invaded Afghanistan. The Afghan government offered to work with the US remove Al Qaeda, but this was rejected.
After Al Qaeda was defeated, the US could have left Afghanistan but instead stayed, established semi-permanent bases, split the country, and is still fighting there two decades later.
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15/02/2021
By Hilde F. Johnson, Norway’s Former Minister of International Development*
This is certainly not the time to leave the region to its own devices
The Horn of Africa is the playground for the rising aspirations of several geopolitical actors | Image from Wall Street International.
15 February 2021 (Wall Street International)* — The Trump administration left a vacuum in many parts of Africa. This had consequences. When the US retreats, others come in and occupy the space. China has gone full speed ahead with the Belt and Road initiative, massively investing in many African countries, nurturing new friendships. The Gulf States have used the opportunity to approach new allies on the African continent, in a battle for hegemony in the Middle East and beyond.
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15/02/2021
13 February 2021 (IWGIA)* — La Guajira is a unique place. Located in the northern-most part of Colombia, it borders on the Caribbean Sea and features a desert landscape adorned with the rare vegetation of the dry, subtropical forest. As one delves deeper into the region, to the so-called Alta Guajira, the flora diminishes until there is nothing but thorny bushes called trumpillos. Likewise, the comforts of Western civilization also fade out as one gets farther from the coast.
The struggle against climate change can be neutralized by the circumstances and conditions under which the clean energy transition is carried out. The behaviour of wind-energy companies in La Guajira, the territory of the Wayuu indigenous people, serves as an illustrative example.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 