World News in Brief: Green light for new cholera vaccine, Ukraine attacks condemned, action against racism call, Brazil rights defenders alert

World News in Brief: Green light for new cholera vaccine, Ukraine attacks condemned, action against racism call, Brazil rights defenders alert

The World Health Organization (WHO) decision means that Euvichol-S vaccine can be added to other cholera-busting drugs which are not being produced in sufficient quantities to help countries battling outbreaks of the preventable disease. WHO reported 473,000 cholera cases in 2022 – double the number in 2021. “The new vaccine is the third product of…

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Ukraine war, ‘stark reminder’ of the trials facing multilateralism

Ukraine war, ‘stark reminder’ of the trials facing multilateralism

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ian Borg briefed ambassadors during their annual meeting on cooperation between the UN and the regional body, which is comprised of 57 States spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America, representing one billion people.   The Maltese Foreign Minister said OSCE countries and their societies “are confronted with an era of profound uncertainty”, given…

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Mixed efforts to achieve energy goals highlighted at the end of Sustainability Week

Mixed efforts to achieve energy goals highlighted at the end of Sustainability Week

The unanimous declaration of the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012 aimed to hone on the importance of improving “access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development.”  Dennis Francis said there have been both achievements and shortcomings in meeting the goal throughout the…

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World News in Brief: Rights chief Türk urges peace in DR Congo, Haiti aid update, food insecurity in Timor Leste

World News in Brief: Rights chief Türk urges peace in DR Congo, Haiti aid update, food insecurity in Timor Leste

The huge central African nation has seen years of violence in the restive but resources-rich east, which have uprooted millions of people – some 2.7 million in North Kivu alone and more than seven million nationally. “What breaks my heart is to see a population exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors…

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Assembly President calls for massive investment in sustainable infrastructure

Assembly President calls for massive investment in sustainable infrastructure

In a special meeting dedicated to building resilience and promoting sustainable development through infrastructure connectivity, Dennis Francis emphasized the importance of quality and endurance. “Quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure – including regional and transborder infrastructure – is important to sustain trade and commerce, facilitate effective transportation, connect us to virtual grids, maintain energy flows,…

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