'Unseen' News and Views
– May 3rd marks World Press Freedom Day around the world. During this COVID-19 pandemic, a robust media environment is critical: access to life-saving information is key in the fight against the virus. As governments impose a range of restrictions in attempts to curb the pandemic, journalists help hold authorities to account by providing analysis, engaging in debate about government actions, and creating a space for dialogue about the future we all hope to see.
1 May 2020 (United Nations)* — On May 3, national and local celebrations for World Press Freedom Day will take place around the world, some in the form of online debates and workshops.
28 April 2020 (Wall Street International)* — Whenever there is confusion and panic as with the Coronavirus pandemic, there will be those trying to profit from it. Sadly, the division in many countries has only be emphasized by COVID-19, so it has been easier for fraudsters to exploit all the confusion out there. Hence, in these times of uncertainty, we connect constantly to our social networks, mainly to watch how this disease evolves and while looking for correct and accurate information, we can be dangerously exposed to fake news.
Stay cautious and do not let the bad guys control your mind with the powers of the Dark Web | Image from Wall Street International.(UN News)* — A third of all nations lack laws to protect their citizen’s online data and privacy, despite an 11 per cent uptick in the global adoption of data protection and privacy legislation since 2015, the United Nations’ trade, investment and development body (UNCTAD) said on Wednesday [29 April 2020].
Reporting the results of a fresh survey on the adoption of cyberlaws around the world, UNCTAD said that the vulnerability is even more stark among least developing countries, amounting to 43 per cent.
The share is highest in Europe at 96 per cent, followed by 69 per cent in the Americas, 57 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, and 50 per cent in Africa.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) fear these young lives will suffer devastating nutritional and health consequences as a result of the crisis.
“For millions of children around the world, the meal they get at school is the only meal they get in a day. Without it, they go hungry, they risk falling sick, dropping out of school and losing their best chance of escaping poverty”, said David Beasley, the WFP Executive Director.
29 April 2020 (IWGIA)* — As large parts of the world’s population are sitting at home in self- and authority-imposed isolation watching the development of the major public health crisis, governments in some countries are taking advantage of the situation and moving on with their repressive agendas cracking down on opposition groups , silencing human rights defenders and independent media, and subjecting entire ethnic groups to brutal military campaigns.
Photo by Signe Leth // IWGIA
– China and India, which went to war back in 1962 largely over a disputed Himalayan border– and continue a longstanding battle for military supremacy in Asia– have set a new record in arms spending.
Credit: SIPRI
For the first time, the world’s two most populous nations, accounting for a total of over 2.7 billion people, are now among the top three military spenders, ranking behind the United States.
In its latest report on global military expenditures, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says the five largest spenders in 2019, accounting for 62 per cent of expenditures, were the United States, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia, in descending order.
The number of people fleeing conflict or violence but remaining within their own countries has reached an all-time high, according to a report published today [28 April 2020] by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). | Español | Français
Internally displaced people at a camp in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 2019. © UNHCR/John Wessels
World military expenditure, by region, 1988–2019
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 