Over 1000 dead in mainland China, 2,097 new confirmed Coronavirus cases

According to the SCMP report, the virus has spread to at least 24 countries, sickened more than 42,000 people worldwide

The Health Authorities in China’s Hubei province on Tuesday (local time) reported 103 more deaths and 2,097 newly confirmed cases of Coronavirus, reported South China Morning Post. With this, the death toll in the epicentre of the outbreak Hubei has risen to 974, while the total number of deaths in mainland China has reached 1,011, according to CNN. One person in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines has died due to the virus.

According to the SCMP report, the virus has spread to at least 24 countries, sickened more than 42,000 people worldwide. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday appeared before the public for the first time since the coronavirus epidemic started and said the government would prevent large-scale layoffs amid the outbreak.

Jinping inspected efforts by community workers in Beijing to contain the virus, visited a local hospital that offers treatment to coronavirus patients and video-chatted with frontline medical staff in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

World ‘losing the race’ to avert climate disaster, warns UN chief Guterres

Guterres said he was heartened by growing societal awareness, which meant that hope was not yet lost

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the world was “losing the race” to avert climate disaster, but that greenhouse gas reduction targets were not out of reach yet. He was speaking during an interview with the Covering Climate Now coalition of media, which includes AFP, days before a UN youth climate summit that will be followed by a meeting with world leaders, where he will urge countries to raise their commitments set under the Paris agreement.

The landmark accord saw countries pledge to limit the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth to two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, and if possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “What I want is to have the whole of society putting pressure on governments to make governments understand they need to run faster, because we are losing the race,” he said, adding: “What the science tells us today is that these targets are still reachable.”

Guterres said that inaction by some key countries, including the US, could be at least partly offset by action at the sub-national level, for example in the carbon neutral pledges made by the states of California and New York. “I think one of the best things of the US society is the fact that it is a federal country… that decisions are decentralized, so I will be always very strongly in favor of keeping decisions on climate change as decentralized as possible,” he said…

Read Source: Climate Change

India scraps Article 370, UN chief flags ‘tense situation in region’

The Narendra Modi government on Monday revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is following with concern the tense situation in the India-Pakistan region and urges all parties to exercise restraint, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said here on Monday. “We are following with concern the tense situation in the region… We urge all parties to exercise restraint,” Dujarric said at the daily press briefing, adding that the UN is also aware of reports of restrictions in Kashmir in India.

Dujarric was responding to a question on whether the Secretary General has any comment on India’s decision to revoke Kashmir’s special status and the Pakistan’s response that this is a violation of UNSC resolutions calling for a UN-organised plebiscite.

The Narendra Modi government on Monday revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Rajya Sabha approved the resolution abrogating Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir and a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the controversial provisions were responsible for poverty and lack of development in the state….

UN chief saddened by displacement of 1 mn, 41 deaths due to rains in India

National disaster response teams are carrying out search-and-rescue operations and some 20,000 people are sheltered in dozens of relief camps.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed sadness at the loss of life, displacement of people and destruction of property due to the heavy monsoon rains in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar and said the world body stands by to provide support if required.

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said Monday according to UN’s humanitarian officials, heavy monsoon rains in India have displaced more than one million people and claimed at least 44 lives. National disaster response teams are carrying out search-and-rescue operations and some 20,000 people are sheltered in dozens of relief camps.

In southeast Nepal, recent heavy rainfall has reportedly killed 67 people and displaced more than 16,500 households, Haq said, adding that search-and-rescue operations have been stepped up, and food, water and tarpaulins are the most-needed items. “The United Nations offers its condolences to the Government and people of both Nepal and India and stands by to provide support if required,” Haq said.

A statement issued by the UN Spokesperson’s office said that the Secretary-General Guterres is “saddened by the loss of life, displacement of people and destruction of property due to the heavy monsoon rains and associated flooding across South and South-East Asia, most notably in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.”

One in three UN employees say they were sexually harassed in last two years

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told staff in a letter that the study contained “some sobering statistics and evidence of what needs to change” to improve the workplace at the United Nations

International News: A third of United Nations employees have reported experiencing sexual harassment at the world body over the last two years, according to the findings of the first-ever survey on such misconduct released Tuesday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told staff in a letter that the study contained “some sobering statistics and evidence of what needs to change” to improve the workplace at the United Nations.

One in three respondents, or 33 per cent, reported at least one instance of sexual harassment in the past two years, but that figure climbed to 38.7 per cent for those who reported some form of sexual harassment during their time at the United Nations.

The most common type of sexual harassment were sexual stories or jokes that were offensive, or offensive remarks about appearance, body or sexual activities.

UN employees were also targeted for unwelcome attempts to draw them into discussion about sexual matters, offensive gestures and touching, according the survey carried out by Deloitte in November…

Contain Source: Business Standard or BS