Race Emerges as Vaccine Problem; U.S. Cases Slow: Virus Update Bloomberg 1/31/2021
(Bloomberg)
Initial data from New York City show “profound” racial disparities in who is receiving the vaccine, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. New York state reported the fewest new cases in more than a month. Across the U.S., infections continue to slow.
A top health adviser to President Joe Biden warned that a new variant of the coronavirus circulating in the U.K. will likely become the dominant strain in the U.S. Ten Republican senators have proposed an alternative plan for Covid-19 economic stimulus costing about $660 billion.
28.1.2021 16:25
Finland has granted a million euros to UN Women for its peacebuilding activities in Syria. The project, which is entitled Supporting Syrian Women’s Engagement in the Syrian Political Process: Building a Constituency for Peace, aims to support women’s engagement in and influence on political processes in Syria. The project runs from October 2020 until December 2021.
Finland has funded the project via UN Women since 2017. The project has four pillars: supporting political processes, grassroots dialogues, international coordination, and gender-related research and analysis in Syria. Sustainable and fair peace cannot be achieved without women s participation.
The Syrian conflict has lasted for almost a decade. The conflict cannot be resolved by military means but the political process and peacebuilding requires the Syrian people s engagement. The peacebuilding project, implemented by UN Women, fosters dialogue between women from various backgrounds and contributes
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Malta is to contribute to the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). This fund is aimed at sustaining peacebuilding efforts in countries affected by or at risk of conflict.
In a press release issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, it was outlined that maintaining peace and security is always a challenge that requires a collective effort, especially on the African continent, and even more so in a time characterised by a global pandemic.
Minister Evarist Bartolo announced Malta’s contribution during a high-level virtual conference that brought together partner states in their efforts to support this fund. He explained how Malta has always identified and followed all multilateral peacebuilding efforts, and therefore is proud to do its part to achieve these important goals through its contribution.
26.1.2021 13:40
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has mandated Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto to visit Ethiopia and its neighbouring regions as the EU representative. Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will travel to the Horn of Africa within the next few weeks. During the visit he will discuss the situation in Ethiopia and its neighbouring regions and ways how the international community could provide support in finding peaceful solutions. The topics to be discussed also include the humanitarian situation in the National Regional State of Tigray in Ethiopia. The European External Action Service and Finland will communicate on the matter in more detail as the visit approaches.
Temporary ban on entry from Norway
Published
26 January 2021
The Government decided today (24 January) to expand the temporary entry ban that has been in effect for Denmark to also include Norway. The entry ban enters into force at midnight on Sunday 24 January and remains in effect until 14 February. Today’s government decision also means that the temporary ban on entry from Denmark and the United Kingdom has been extended until 14 February 2021. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has also decided today to reinstate the advice against unnecessary travel to Norway.
The Norwegian health authorities suspect a major outbreak in the Oslo area of the mutated variant of the COVID-19 virus that was previously reported in the United Kingdom. The Public Health Agency of Sweden’s assessment is that the suspected outbreak in combination with extensive lockdown measures may risk a massive influx of people to the Swedish side of the border. This increases the risk of congestion in nearby S