WHO accused of conspiring with Italy to remove damning Covid report
Exclusive: document intended to help prevent future deaths allegedly pulled from website after request
The World Health Organization has been accused of conspiring with the Italian health ministry to remove a report revealing the country’s mismanagement at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic – the publication of which was intended to prevent future deaths.
Italy was the first European country to become engulfed by the pandemic. The report, produced by the WHO scientist Francesco Zambon and 10 colleagues across Europe, was funded by Kuwait’s government with the objective of providing information to countries yet to be hit.
Called An Unprecedented Challenge: Italy’s First Response to Covid-19, the document was published on the WHO website on 13 May before being taken down the next day, as first reported by the Guardian in August. The 102-page report said Italy’s pandemic plan had not been updated since 2006 and that, due to being unprepared, the initial response from hospitals was “improvised, chaotic and creative”. It took time for formal guidance to become available, the report added.
Indian minister says beef ban law is needed ‘to protect cow vigilantes’
Cow vigilantes are mobs of people who carry out violent attacks in the name of protecting the animals seen as sacred in Hinduism
An Indian politician has provoked a backlash for suggesting that a law banning the slaughter of cattle was needed to shield vigilantes who violently attack others in the name of cow protection.
The so-called “beef ban” was passed by the lower house of Karnataka’s state assembly on Wednesday, and includes a strict prohibition on the killing of all forms of cattle as well as tough sentences for offenders.
While female cows are revered in Hinduism, some Indian states permit the slaughter of bulls, male buffalos and cows who are elderly or incapacitated.
Global carbon emissions down by record 7% in 2020
Researchers say global carbon emissions dropped by an estimated 2.4 billion metric tons this year due to the coronavirus-induced lockdowns. They have also warned that the emissions may rebound once the pandemic ends.
Carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 fell by 7%, the biggest drop ever, as countries around the world imposed lockdowns and restrictions on movement to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Global Carbon Project said in its annual assessment on Friday.
The pandemic-struck year saw emissions cut by an estimated 2.4 billion metric tons, shattering previous records of annual declines, such as 0.9 billion metric tons at the end of World War II or 0.5 billion metric tons in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit.
Former Hong Kong lawmaker seeks asylum in US
Former Hong Kong lawmaker and pro-independence activist Sixtus Leung said Friday he had left the city and was in the United States to seek asylum.
He is the latest in a string of democracy activists and former legislators who have fled Hong Kong since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in June.
"I, Sixtus 'Baggio' Leung... hereby declare the severance of all ties with my family in Hong Kong," the 34 year-old said in a Facebook post.
Bloomberg journalist detained in Beijing for allegedly 'endangering national security'
Updated 1500 GMT (2300 HKT) December 11, 2020
A Chinese national working in the Beijing bureau of Bloomberg News has been detained on suspicion of endangering national security.
Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook employees they won't need a COVID-19 vaccine when they return to the office next summer
CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees in a virtual all-hands meeting on Thursday that the company wouldn't require them to get a COVID-19 vaccine to return to the office, a source told The Daily Beast.
A Facebook representative confirmed this to Business Insider. "Our US offices remain closed and we don't expect them to open before the COVID-19 vaccines are widely available," they said. "At yesterday's company Q&A, Mark said that at this point, based on what we know, we don't think it will be necessary to require a vaccine for employees to return to work. He also said he's confident in the vaccine and looks forward to getting one himself."
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