Switzerland

WHO to set up centre for traditional medicine in India

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The World Health Organisation announced on Friday that it will set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, with Prime Minister Narendra expressing confidence that just like the country has emerged as the 'pharmacy of the world', the WHO institution will become the centre for global wellness.

Over 1,500 Yemenis killed, injured in 9 months: UN

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: More than 1,500 civilians were killed and injured in Yemen during the first nine months of 2020, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for Yemen announced yesterday.

"From January to September 2020 alone, 1,508 civilians were killed or injured in Yemen," the UNHCR office said on Twitter. The humanitarian organisation added that 42 per cent of the victims were women and children.

US: WHO not sharing enough info about China virus probe

Geneva, Nov 11 (AP/PTI) A senior US government official complained Tuesday that the World Health Organization has not shared enough information about its planned mission to China to investigate the animal origins of the coronavirus.

Garrett Grisby of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services griped that the criteria for WHO's China mission had not been shared with other nations. He spoke during a weeklong meeting of the U.H. health agency's member countries.

WHO records record spike in daily coronavirus cases - over 581,000

GENEVA, November 7. /TASS/: More than 581,000 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus have been recorded globally in the past day, bringing the total number of infections to 48.53 million, which hit a new record-high number of single-day cases in the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin on Friday.

According to the WHO updates, the coronavirus-related fatalities increased by over 8,000 to climb to 1.23 million.

WTO postpones final decision on its new chief

GENEVA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday postponed a General Council special meeting on the appointment of the next Director-General slated for Nov. 9, citing reasons including "health situation and current events."

"It has come to my attention that for reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on Nov. 9," General Council Chair David Walker of New Zealand said in a written statement to all members.

U.S. urges WHO chief to invite Taiwan to assembly

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.S. mission in Geneva urged World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday to invite Taiwan to a major meeting the body is hosting next week expected to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We encourage the WHO to expand its efforts to offer Taiwan increased meaningful cooperation and collaboration with the organization, and this (an invitation to participate) would be a needed step in that direction,” it said in a statement.

Hong Kong launches WTO trade dispute against U.S. over labelling

GENEVA (Reuters) - Hong Kong has launched a trade dispute against the United States over what it says is a U.S. requirement that goods from Hong Kong be marked as coming from China, a World Trade Organization (WTO) document showed on Tuesday.

Hong Kong had made a “request for consultations”, the first step in a WTO dispute on Oct. 30, the document showed.

UN expert airs human rights concerns ahead of Myanmar vote

Geneva, Nov 3 (AP/PTI) An independent human rights expert working with the United Nations is calling on Myanmar's government and military leadership to stop persecuting supporters of the opposition ahead of Sunday's general election.

Thomas Andrews, a former US congressman from Maine who is the UN special investigator on Myanmar, called for free and fair elections but expressed concerns about the denial of the vote to Rohingya Muslims and others based on race, ethnicity or religion.

Armenia, Azerbaijan meet in Geneva for Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks

31 Oct 2020; MEMO: The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met international mediators in Geneva on Friday in the latest round of talks to resolve conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, where hundreds have been killed in more than a month of fighting, Reuters reported.

The ministers are meeting envoys from France, Russia and the United States, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group created to mediate a conflict that has escalated in recent days, a diplomat in the Swiss city told Reuters.

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