Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Pressure on Turkey to protect Uighurs as China ratifies extradition treaty | Uighurs | The Guardian

Historically, Turkey has long welcomed Uighurs and Turkic Muslims fleeing China and has spoken out against abuses. An estimated 50,000 Uighurs are refugees in Turkey, making it the largest Uighur diaspora hub in the world.

In May, Turkey’s ambassador to the US reiterated the cultural and linguistic ties between the ethnic minority groups and Turkey, and told Axios “any issue pertaining to their wellbeing holds a special place on our agenda”.

However, in recent years Ankara has grown closer to Beijing and increased its assistance in apprehending or interrogating Uighurs who Chinese authorities have accused of terrorism. While it refuses to return Uighurs to China directly, Turkey has been accused of sending them to a third country, like Tajikistan, where extradition to China is easier.

Residency paperwork has become harder to obtain, and many Uighurs in Turkey report receiving phone calls from Chinese police threatening family members still in Xinjiang if they do not stop campaigning against the ruling Communist party’s policies.

Daily demonstrations by the Uighur community are currently being held outside the Chinese consulate in Istanbul to protest against such treatment.

“At first Uighurs didn’t take the treaty seriously because all countries have such agreements between each other … but the fact is that Chinese Han who flee go to the west, not Turkey, so this treaty is specifically targeting us,” said Arslan Hidayet, an Australian Uighur activist who lives in Istanbul.

“We have been sold out by our own, despite the ethnic and religious ties we have, which is very hurtful.”

Source: Pressure on Turkey to protect Uighurs as China ratifies extradition treaty | Uighurs | The Guardian

UN finds Netherlands violated human rights of stateless child

Dutch authorities left 10-year-old without legal protection by registering him as ‘nationality unknown’

The Netherlands violated a child’s rights by failing to acknowledge that he was stateless and eligible for international protection, a UN committee has found, urging the country to change its legislation.

In its first ever decision on the right of children to acquire nationality, the UN Human Rights Committee determined on Tuesday that by registering the child as “nationality unknown”, the Dutch authorities had violated his right to international protection and also to seek a nationality.

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Who’s Not Essential Today

Mock Paper Scissors

The Trump-Virus

You, that’s who!

Axios tells us that congressional staffers are getting cuts in line now, too. Also.

Congress’ attending physician informed lawmakers Monday night that two staffers in every House member and senator’s personal offices are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

In addition, the Office of the Attending Physician is offering the vaccine to four staffers of every committee chair and every ranking committee member.

Because the people working so hard to keep you from getting $2K Ameros are more essential than you are.

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The Friends of Mr Cairo

Cairo – use Google translate to read the text about this wonderful city.

ore de drum

Cairo, 2018

Mașini, claxoane, scrâșnet de frâne, voci. Peisajul sonor din metropola egipteană e amețitor, dar toate astea încetează imediat ce intri în cartierul creștin. Se așterne dintr-o dată o liniște ireală.

După câteva controale riguroase ale armatei, pătrund în sectorul cel mai bine păzit din Cairo, edificat parțial pe vechile fundații romane.

Aici ne intersectăm cu traseul parcurs de Sfânta Familie în timpul fugii în Egipt.

După plecarea magilor, un înger i s-a arătat în vis lui Iosif, sfătuindu-l să-și ia familia și să fugă în Egipt, pentru a salva pruncul.

Albrecht Durer a reprezentat cu dramatism episodul într-o gravură pe care am văzut-o la Palazzo Sturm, Bassano del Grappa. M-au fascinat resemnarea, temeritatea și speranțele din gesturile lor măsurate.

Porniseră precipitat la drum, îngrijorați unul pentru celălalt și amândoi pentru prunc, indiferenți la frumusețea peisajului. Au rămas în Egipt până la moartea lui Irod, răstimp în care Iosif…

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Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them — Just Sayin’

Credit: Hanna Barczyk Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them From a human-made virus to vaccine conspiracy theories, we rounded up the most insidious false claims about the pandemic Tanya Lewis ○ 1 The virus was engineered in a laboratory in China. Because the pathogen first emerged in Wuhan, China, President Donald Trump […]

Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them — Just Sayin’

 U.S. intelligence agencies have categorically denied the possibility that the virus was engineered in a lab, stating that “the Intelligence Community … concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified.” Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli—who studies bat coronaviruses and whose lab Trump and others have suggested was the source of COVID-19—compared the pathogen’s sequence with those of other coronaviruses her team had sampled from bat caves and found that it did not match any of them.

Ohio reported increase of 2,210 student, 1,323 staff coronavirus cases in K-12 schools last week – cleveland.com

Ohio’s reported increases bringcumulative reported cases to 22,4233 student and 14,114 staff since Sept. 7, when the state instituted school reporting guidelines.

Source: Ohio reported increase of 2,210 student, 1,323 staff coronavirus cases in K-12 schools last week – cleveland.com

Academia Sinica launches network to track SARS-CoV-2 variants – Focus Taiwan

The research team identified six main SARS-CoV-2 variants, using genome sequences from the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), a global science initiative and primary source that provides open-access to genomic data on influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

It found that the Type 6 variant has become dominant globally since April 2020, accounting for over 95 percent of data collected after mid-May 2020, according to the research team’s study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on Nov. 12.

The mutation in the U.K. indicates such change cannot be easily stopped, Academia Sinica said, making observations of mutations particularly important.

The global real-time monitoring network to track SARS-CoV-2 variations is intended to facilitate the discovery of emerging variants, and to promote the scientific assessment of vaccine efficiency and the ongoing spread of the virus, the institution said.

The network can be found at https://sarscov2.sinica.edu.tw/tracking.html on the Academia Sinica website.

Source: Academia Sinica launches network to track SARS-CoV-2 variants – Focus Taiwan

Chennai man tests positive for new strain of coronavirus- The New Indian Express

coronavirus, PPE, COVID 19

A Chennai resident who returned from the United Kingdom has tested postive for the highly contagious new coronavirus strain that has forced the UK into a second lockdown.

Speaking to the press after inspection at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “One Chennai person has been tested positive for the new variant. He is being treated in a separate wing at the King Institute hospital.”

The Health Secretary said results of other passengers are awaited. According to the health secretary four more passengers who returned from the UK tested positive for Covid-19.

So far a total 17 UK passengers in Tamil Nadu have tested positive.

Source: Chennai man tests positive for new strain of coronavirus- The New Indian Express

Caja asks the population to wait for the call to get vaccinated against Covid-19 | Q COSTA RICA

It is important to understand that the health areas will gradually receive the vaccines and will be communicating to their assigned population at the moment that they will start the vaccination process.

Costa Rica has  purchased a total of six million doses to immunize three million inhabitants over 18 years of age. Of these, 3 million were ordered from Pfizer/Biontech, 1 million doses from AstraZeneca / University of Oxford and 2 million doses through the COVAX initiative.

Source: Caja asks the population to wait for the call to get vaccinated against Covid-19 | Q COSTA RICA

COVID-19 Vaccine Information | Erie County, NY Department of Health

  • It will be several months before the general public has access to a COVID-19 vaccine. Erie County is actively planning for vaccine distribution. Please stay updated by watching press conferences and announcements from New York State and Erie County. We will provide complete and accurate information about vaccine distribution in Erie County as that information is available.

Source: COVID-19 Vaccine Information | Erie County, NY Department of Health