Switzerland

08 July 2021; MEMO: The International Commission of Jurists has called for immediate action to stop politically motivated executions in Egypt, considering them invalid because of the lack of fair trials.

Beirut, Jul 7 (AP-PTI) Coronavirus infections have been on the rise in the 22 countries of the eastern Mediterranean region after two months of steady decline because of increased international travel, low protection and limited vaccination, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.

The region, which includes the Gulf, North African and Asian countries, has registered over 11 million infections and over 220,000 deaths since last year. Iran has been the worst impacted by the pandemic, followed by Iraq.

GENEVA, July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization’s global appeal for funding for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, diagnostics and equipment is still $16.8-billion short — almost half its total needs, the WHO said.

   The funding shortfall comes amid a widening gap between rich and poor nations in their ability to fight the pandemic, with access to vaccines woefully uneven.

   WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, sounding an alarm on the gap in access to resources, warned that the pandemic remained in a “very dangerous phase” more than 18 months in.

GENEVA, July 7 (Reuters) - The United Nations top human rights official called on ASEAN countries on Wednesday to launch a political dialogue with the military junta and the democratically-elected leadership in Myanmar, with support from the international community.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc agreed a five-point consensus in April, "but unfortunately the Myanmar military leadership have shown little sign of abiding by it", Michelle Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

GENEVA, July 5 (Reuters) - The U.N. Special Rapporteur told Belarus on Monday to immediately free some 530 jailed people whom rights groups consider "political prisoners" as Washington's envoy hinted at the possibility of further economic sanctions against Minsk.

Belarusian authorities have cracked down hard after massive anti-government protests erupted last summer over voter fraud allegations at an election that handed Alexander Lukashenko a new term as president. He denies wrongdoing.

United Nations/Geneva, Jul 3 (PTI) The world is in a very "dangerous period" of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded by more transmissible variants like Delta, which is continuing to evolve and mutate, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned.

He said in countries with low vaccination coverage, terrible scenes of hospitals overflowing are again becoming the norm.

GENEVA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The latest session of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) aiming at paving the way for the scheduled national elections concluded in Switzerland Friday without reaching an agreement.

Raisedon Zenenga, Assistant UN Secretary-General and Coordinator of UN Support Mission in Libya, said in his closing remarks that it is regrettable the meeting has not succeeded in reaching an agreement.

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Thursday that any COVID-19 vaccines it has authorized for emergency use should be recognized by countries as they open up their borders to inoculated travelers.

The move could challenge Western countries to broaden their acceptance of two apparently less effective Chinese vaccines, which the U.N. health agency has licensed but most European and North American countries have not.

GENEVA, July 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China was certified as malaria-free on Wednesday by the World Health Organization, following a 70-year effort to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease.

The country reported 30 million cases of the infectious disease annually in the 1940s but has now gone four consecutive years without an indigenous case.

“We congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

ZURICH, June 30 (Reuters) - Switzerland has chosen Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter plane, the government said on Wednesday, a move that will likely trigger another hotly-disputed referendum over the plan.

Neutral Switzerland will buy 36 F-35As after an evaluation found it had "the highest overall benefit at the lowest overall cost," the government said.