Headlines: 22-30 April 2024
UN organizations' news
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Haiti's transitional council names ex-Sports Minister Fritz Belizaire as country's new prime minister — ground.news: 14 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
UN experts say North Korea missile landed in Ukraine's Kharkiv — Reuters ● — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
The Home Office has admitted losing contact with thousands of migrants set to be deported to Rwanda — with claims they could have fled to Ireland. An internal document revealed that officials are only in touch with 2,143 of the 5,700 people earmarked to be on the first flights to the African state — dailymail.co.uk — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
In a first, AstraZeneca admits its Covid vaccine can cause rare blood clots — ground.news: 28 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
President orders surprise corruption probe on all of his own Ministers — ground.news: 12 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Zimbabwe's ZiG is the world's newest currency and its latest attempt to resolve a money crisis — ground.news: 12 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 6 months on space station — ground.news: 17 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months prison in Seattle for allowing money laundering — ground.news: 23 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Voters don't like Biden's economy — but why? There's a disconnect between most economic indicators that economists consider — things like GDP, the unemployment rate, job growth and inflation — which are all looking up, and how voters feel: a lot of that has to do with the cost of living, including persistent high prices at the grocery store and gas pump and for bigger costs like housing and higher education — abcnews — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Heather Cox Richardson: Time on Trump's second term: he was "too nice" in his first term — and the Republican revolt against democracy since 1971 — substack — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Trump fined $9,000 for violating gag order in hush money case — ground.news: 127 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Tesla lays off supercharging team as auto industry adopts its charging standard: Report — ground.news: 28 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
The majority of people in every country support action on climate, but the public consistently underestimates this share. — bigthink.com — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Study reveals the place where time moves 9% slower for humans: on stationary bicycles — popularmechanics — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Ancient text reveals details of Plato’s burial place and final evening, experts say — CNN — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Monday, 29 April 2024
First Nations woman one of seven global winners of prestigious Goldman prize for environmental activism — The Guardian UK ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
World Central Kitchen resuming operations in Gaza after killing of 7 workers — ground.news: 54 media reports — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Humza Yousaf quits as Scotland's first minister in boost to Labour's chances in UK vote — Reuters ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Hundreds of students arrested in weekend's US Gaza war protests, scuffles at UCLA — Al Jazeera — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
US military ships are working to build a pier for Gaza aid. It's going to cost at least $320 million — ground.news main source: AP, 21 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
Russia loses control of key Dnieper River island in the Kherson region — Newsweek — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Actor Gérard Depardieu will be tried for alleged sexual assaults on a film set, prosecutors say — ground.news: 73 media reports — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Healthy lifestyle may offset genetics by 60% and add five years to life, study says — ground.news: 13 media reports — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
— BMJ Evidence-based Medicine: Our analysis was limited to white-European ancestry, making the findings less generalisable to the general population and other ethnic groups. The generalisability of our findings should be further evaluated in more diverse populations. — (LINK)
Switzerland in international rankings: the development of Switzerland's competitiveness — and why interpreting rankings requires caution — avenir-suisse — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
— We have traced 22 of the most important and most discussed rankings back to the year 2000. The country is an undisputed leader, particularly regarding innovation and talent attraction. Despite losing a few ranks, there is no evidence of a general downward trend. Switzerland's performance when it comes to business regulation is less promising. There is also still room for improvement regarding future technologies. The country is not (yet) among the leading nations in the field of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the cost of living in Switzerland is among the highest in the world.
— While the best indices are based on meticulous and careful data analysis, others are based on rather shaky figures. The indicators do not always measure the same thing in all countries.
WEF Special Meeting 2024 — revitalizing growth, development and collaboration amid global fractures — weforum — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
— Participants agreed that efforts to counter global fragmentation must include new ways to measure and kick-start economic growth.
— The importance of intelligent economies — where multiple intelligence systems such as AI, 5G and the Internet of Things work together rather than in isolation — was presented as a potential solution to driving greater innovation and prosperity in both the region and beyond.
— During the meeting, the Forum signed a collaboration agreement with the Space Agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to establish a new Centre for Space Futures in Riyadh, the first of its kind. The Forum also launched a Strategic Cybersecurity Talent Framework, which outlines four priority areas where organizations can build sustainable talent pipelines and strengthen their cyber resilience in the face of increasingly complex and numerous global cyberthreats. In parallel, a report was published with guiding principles to enhance cyber resilience in manufacturing.
— Participants agreed that efforts to revive growth and economic cooperation cannot succeed without equivalent investment in jobs, people and equity. Participants also discussed how to accelerate economic gender parity and the integration of youth.
— Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, stressed that "revitalising, reimagining, and reinvigorating alliances and partnerships around the world" would be the only way out of this period of polycrisis.
Russia to ban cryptocurrencies as a move to protect the ruble — cryptopolitan.com — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
As new Haiti leadership takes power, gangs demand a seat at the table — Reuters ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Japanese yen strengthens sharply against US dollar (USD), shocks crypto & stocks — coingape.com — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Japanese yen weakens to 160 against the U.S. dollar for the first time since 1990 — ground.news: 6 media reports — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Reddit may sue AI firms if business conversations fail — cryptopolitan.com — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
FCC fines US wireless carriers nearly $200m over illegal location data sharing — Reuters ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
Four law enforcement officers killed and four others wounded in a gun battle while serving a fugitive arrest warrant at a house in Charlotte, North Carolina, police say: fugitive fatally shot and two other suspects arrested — Reuters ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
World-first supercomputer simulation predicts when human extinction on Earth will happen — in around 250 million years — Reuters ● — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
— The massive shelves that make up the surface of our plane will eventually merge together to form one massive supercontinent, Pangea Ultima. "The newly-emerged supercontinent would effectively create a triple whammy, comprising the continentality effect, hotter sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, of increasing heat for much of the planet." Typical temperatures will hover between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius, combined with high levels of humidity. Somewhere between eight and 16 per cent of the overall landmass of Pangea Ultima would be habitable, the study says.
Sunday, 28 April 2024
WEF: Dozens of energy ministers are gathering in Riyadh. Here's what they are saying — u.today — 28 April 2024 (LINK)
Germany and its far-right AfD grapple with wave of spying threats from Russia and China — BBC — 28 April 2024 (LINK)
Saturday, 27 April 2024
Tornado threat in U.S. Heartland continues after 4 injured, hundreds of homes damaged: 83 reports of tornadoes across five states. — yahoo — 27 April 2024 (LINK)
Pro-Palestinian protests continue at major US universities where several schools have called police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds across the country — CNN — 27 April 2024 (LINK)
Friday, 26 April 2024
Most countries are reinstating funds for UNRWA — but not the United States — washingtonpost — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
UN investigators probe 14 Gaza aid staffers Israel had tied to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack: 4 others suspended, 1 closed: announcement by U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric provided the first information on the investigation ordered by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — AP — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Escalating violence in Sudan's North Darfur state has left dozens dead and people trapped in El Fasher city, which is home to around 800,000 people, many displaced due to fighting. A spokesperson for the office of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said in a statement that "an attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population." — ground.news: 15 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Gaza aid pier project comes under mortar fire on 25 April, damaging equipment and prompting U.N. Officials to seek shelter — ground.news: media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Gaza's 37m tonnes of bomb-filled debris could take 14 years to clear, says U.N. expert — ground.news: 27 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
King Charles III will resume public duties after 3 months absence next week following cancer treatment, palace says — ground.news: 170 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
At least 70 people killed by flooding in Kenya since March and more rain is expected through the weekend — ground.news main source: AP, 19 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
10 killed after fire breaks out in southern Brazil guesthouse — ground.news main source: AP, 44 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Jan. 6 rioter who sought to 'incite violence' by Trump supporters sentenced to six years — NBC — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Europe had worst wine harvest in 62 years: climate change + impacts blamed: wine consumption also at its lowest level since 1996 because of price increases from inflation and a sharp drop in wine drinking in China due to economic slowdown — euronews — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
IMF expects growth in Latin America to average about 2% per year in the next five years, below its already low historical average. These projections are also considerably weaker than those for other emerging market economies across Europe and Asia, which are also expected to slow but still grow by 3% and 6% annually. This weaker outlook partly reflects long-standing challenges of low investment and slow productivity growth. The additional challenge this time is that the demographics are turning, and the labor force won't grow as fast as before — IMF — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
World's first jab to stop skin cancer being tested in UK patients — ground.news: 11 media reports — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Reparations to be paid to survivors of wartime sexual violence in Ukraine — The Guardian UK ● — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
Thursday, 25 April 2024
Biden names Lise Grande new special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues — ground.news: 11 media reports — 25 April 2024 (LINK)
Heatstroke kills 30 in Thailand this year as kingdom bakes — ground.news: 15 media reports — 25 April 2024 (LINK)
Flooding in Tanzania has killed 155 people as heavy rains continue in Eastern Africa — ground.news: 21 media reports — 25 April 2024 (LINK)
Global Youth Network Launched in Singapore at the CITES Youth Leadership Programme — cites.org — 25 April 2024 (LINK)
New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial — AP — 25 April 2024 (LINK)
— In a stinging dissent, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the majority was "whitewashing the facts to conform to a he-said/she-said narrative", and said the Court of Appeals was continuing a "disturbing trend of overturning juries' guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence."
— Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013. He will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Vaccines saved at least 154 million lives in 50 years: WHO — ground.news: 24 media reports — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
Iran sentences popular rapper to death for supporting Mahsa Amini protests — ground.news: 56 media reports — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
Russia blocks US move at UN on nuclear weapons in space — ground.news: 66 media reports — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by US to hit Russian-held areas, officials say — ground.news: 95 media reports — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
U.S. national upscale grocery store Foxtrot and Dom's Kitchen & Market this week filed for bankruptcy and suddenly closed all 33 of their locations: the closures affect 100 corporate employees and 1,000 workers at the stores, which are mostly in Texas, Illinois and Washington D.C. The bankruptcy comes just five months after Foxtrot merged with Dom's to form the Foxtrot and Dom's Kitchen & Market brand. — johnjayandrich.iheart.com — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
No, cloud seeding didn't flood Dubai, it was global warming — theconversation.com — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
While most of the world still runs on dirty fossil fuels, Costa Rica has generated nearly all of its electricity from renewable sources of energy for nearly a decade — it's still not enough... (For comparison, the US generates just over 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources) — theverge — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
— "In the winter, like a six-month period from June to December, many of the hydropower plants get surplus flows. That's when we have low wind, but we have more hydropower. And then in the summer, like from December to May perhaps, we get low hydropower, so the other sources of energy complement that electricity supply — mainly wind power, biomass, and geothermal."
"In the long term, what we see is an increase in hydropower production — but in the west and south of the country, mainly because rains will get heavier, more intense in that region. We’ve got a problem because hydropower does not have the same variability as solar wind. So, if we get more solar and more wind, our system will have more variability."
Question: There has been opposition to large hydroelectric dams because they harm river ecosystems and displace people from their homes. How do you think about those risks?
"From the start of the project, we get the communities and all the stakeholders involved in the project. We know that perhaps this will be a little more expensive. However, with this perspective the project will be held with lower risk and we can fulfill our environmental and social requirements."
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
U.K. Premier Rishi Sunak announces £500m military aid package to Ukraine — ground.news main source: The Guardian, 20 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature — ground.news: 45 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
Milei announces Argentina's first budget surplus in 16 years — ground.news: 28 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
Argentina economic activity seen plunging 6% in February — ground.news main source: Reuters, 7 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
US FDA says commercial milk generally safe despite bird flu virus presence in some — ground.news: 40 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
Asia hit hardest by climate and weather disasters last year, says WMO — ground.news: 31 media reports — 23 April 2024 (LINK)
Monday, 22 April 2024
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as US advances aid package — ground.news main source: AP, 58 media reports — 22 April 2024 (LINK)
Israeli military intelligence head resigns over failure to anticipate Oct. 7 Hamas attack — washingtonpost — 22 April 2024 (LINK)— ground.news: 160 media reports (LINK)
Israel Gaza: Top US colleges struggle with widening "anti-semitic" protests — BBC — 22 April 2024 (LINK)
More than 70 percent of the world's workforce faces potential health risks due to climate change, according to the latest report of the International Labour Organization (ILO) — ILO — 22 April 2024 (LINK)
"Nearly 20,000 workers are dying yearly because of [...] injuries in the workplace related to rising temperatures and to exposure to excessive heat, indoor and outdoor heat. [...] Millions — over 2 million disability-adjusted years — are lost because of injuries and deaths related to heat."
