Switzerland

GENEVA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday agreed by consensus to appoint Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the organization's seventh director-general.

After taking office on March 1, Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and the first African to serve as the chief of the 26-year-old global trade body, which has been leaderless for almost six months after Roberto Azevedo stepped down on Aug. 31, 2020.

GENEVA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that the international expert team on the COVID-19 origin-tracing mission in Wuhan was "independent" and had no affiliation.

"So many times I hear that this is a WHO study or investigation. It's not," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference from Geneva, stressing that it's an independent study which is composed of independent individuals from ten institutions.

GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- An independent expert team to study the origins of the COVID-19 virus is working on a summary report expected to be published next week, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Friday.

The WHO chief told a virtual press conference that the team has completed its trip to China, and their full final report will be published in the coming weeks.

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body passed a consensus resolution Friday urging military leaders in Myanmar to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian government leaders detained after a military coup, while watering down an initial draft text amid pressure led by China and Russia.

In a special session at the Human Rights Council, the original resolution presented by Britain and the European Union was revised to remove calls to bolster the ability of a U.N. rights expert to scrutinize Myanmar and for restraint from the country’s military.

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said Friday that the drop in confirmed COVID-19 infections around the world was encouraging, but cautioned against relaxing restrictions that have helped curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of reported infections globally has declined for the fourth week in a row, and the number of deaths also fell for the second consecutive week.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Some 300 elected parliamentarians in Myanmar called on the United Nations on Friday to investigate “gross human rights violations” committed by the military since its Feb. 1 coup, including arrests of civilian leaders and shooting protesters.

In a letter read out to the Human Rights Council in Geneva by Britain’s ambassador Julian Braithwaite, they said the junta had also “placed restrictions on people’s freedom of speech by preparing a telecommunications bill intended to control access to the Internet and mobile services.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights investigator for Myanmar on Friday urged the U.N. Security Council to consider imposing punitive sanctions, arms embargoes and travel bans in response to a military coup.

The United States, which imposed its own sanctions on Thursday, urged other U.N. member states to follow suit, in its first remarks to the Human Rights Council since returning to the forum this week.

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said Monday the emergence of new COVID-19 variants has raised questions about whether or not existing vaccines will work, calling it “concerning news” that the vaccines developed so far may be less effective against the variant first detected in South Africa.

ZURICH (Reuters) - The European Union will not reopen parts of a stalled bilateral treaty with Switzerland, the EU ambassador to the Alpine republic said in an interview with newspaper Blick, taking a hard line on Swiss misgivings over talks that have lasted years.

“What we won’t do is reopen the controversial dossiers,” Petros Mavromichalis told the Swiss newspaper. “The negotiations are done.”

ZURICH (Reuters) - The European Union will not reopen parts of a stalled bilateral treaty with Switzerland, the EU ambassador to the Alpine republic said in an interview with newspaper Blick, taking a hard line on Swiss misgivings over talks that have lasted years.

“What we won’t do is reopen the controversial dossiers,” Petros Mavromichalis told the Swiss newspaper. “The negotiations are done.”