GERMANY
WHO pledges total US$1bn
The WHO said it received US$700 million in pledges for its 2025-2028 budget at an event in Berlin on Monday, in addition to US300 million already pledged by the EU and African Union. “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that when health is at risk, everything is at risk,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the event. “Investments in WHO are therefore investments not only in protecting and promoting health, but also in more equitable, more stable and more secure societies and economies.” Berlin said it would provide at least 360 million euros (US$393 million). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged more countries to share the responsibility, saying: “Every contribution counts — no matter how small.”
PAKISTAN
Li inaugurates new airport
Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) on Monday took part in a ceremony during his four-day visit to inaugurate a Beijing-funded airport, in a volatile region where Chinese interests are routinely targeted by separatists. While Li did not travel to Balochistan, he “virtually” inaugurated Gwadar Airport at a ceremony in Islamabad, about 2,000km away. The airport is next to Gwadar Port, the cornerstone project of the multibillion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that connects China’s Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s coast. “China will continue to work with Pakistan to uphold the principle of planning together, building together and benefitting together,” Li said at the ceremony alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. An aviation official said on condition of anonymity that the airport is yet to open for flights.
RUSSIA
Man rescued after 67 days
Authorities yesterday said they had rescued a man whose tiny boat had drifted for 67 days since August in waters edging the northwestern Pacific, but his brother and nephew died during the ordeal. Social media images showed a thin, bearded man wearing a hooded jacket and orange emergency vest in a catamaran-like sailboat flying a red flag from a small pole. “On Oct 14, a vessel was discovered in the waters of the Sea of ?Okhotsk,” legal authorities in the nation’s Far East said on the Telegram messaging app. “Two people died, one survived,” the regional prosecutors’ office charged with handling transport issues said. “He is receiving medical assistance.” The boat with the man and bodies aboard was finally sighted by fishers near the village of Ust-Khayruzovo, off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the post added. Authorities did not immediately identify the voyagers.
FRANCE
Global wine output weak
Bad weather means global wine production this year would remain near a 60-year low according to preliminary estimates, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) said on Monday. “Early indications suggest that 2024 will be another year of relatively low production, most likely below 250 million hectoliters a year,” director-general John Barker said at the opening of the OIV’s 45th congress in Dijon. Last year, global output was about 237 million hectoliters, the lowest since 1961, as the various effects of climate change, such as drought, heatwaves and flooding, affected grape harvests. The preliminary forecast is based on figures from major producing nations that account for about three-quarters of global production, OIV head of statistics Giorgio Delgrosso said. Output from Spain, Italy, Australia and Argentina has improved, but remain far from their average, he said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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