Switzerland

GENEVA, June 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– WHO-hosted International Drug Purchasing Facility (Unitaid) announced it had struck deals with two of the world’s main medical oxygen producers to boost access to badly-needed supplies in poor countries fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

The international organisation, which works on innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat major diseases in poorer countries, said it had signed agreements with Air Liquide and Linde.

GENEVA, June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin square up on Wednesday for their first meeting since Biden took office with deep disagreements likely and expectations low for any breakthroughs.

Both have said they hope their talks in a lakeside Geneva villa can lead to more stable and predictable relations, even though they remain at odds over everything from arms control and cyber-hacking to election interference and Ukraine.

(AP) --- President Joe Biden will seek to stave off another surge of civilian suffering in the devastating war in Syria when he meets President Vladimir Putin this week, appealing to Putin to drop a threat to close the last aid crossing into that country.

GENEVA, June 11. /TASS/: More than 1,000 journalists have applied for credentials for a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States that will take place in Geneva on June 16, Swiss Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pierre-Alain Eltschinger told TASS on Friday.

"More than 1,000 journalists have filed applications," he pointed out.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry’s information service continues to check the information provided in order to complete the accreditation process as soon as possible, Eltschinger emphasized.

GENEVA, June 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– The world has marked the first rise in child labour in two decades and the coronavirus crisis threatens to push millions more youngsters toward the same fate, the United Nations said Thursday.

In a joint report, the International Labour Organization and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said the number in child labour stood at 160 million at the start of 2020 — an increase of 8.4 million in four years.

(Reuters) --- The World Health Organization on Thursday urged Europeans to travel responsibly during the summer holiday season and warned the continent was "by no means out of danger" in the battle against COVID-19 despite a steady decline of infection rates in recent weeks.

"With increasing social gatherings, greater population mobility, and large festivals and sports tournaments taking place in the coming days and weeks, WHO Europe calls for caution," the WHO's European head Hans Kluge told a press briefing.

GENEVA, June 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Orgamisation called for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to give Covax first refusal on new doses, or commit half of their volumes to the global jab equity scheme.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said manufacturers should turn their attention to the Covax facility, which has struggled to get donation-funded doses to poorer countries.

GENEVA (AP) — Envoys from World Trade Organization member nations are taking up a proposal to ease patents and other intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines to help developing countries fight the pandemic, an idea backed by the Biden administration but opposed in other wealthy countries with strong pharmaceutical industries.

03 June 2021; MEMO: A number of Jewish community groups in Switzerland have failed to have the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, designated as a "terrorist" organisation, Arabi 21 reported on Wednesday. The latest Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip has apparently reignited the debate in the European country about the movement's status.

02 June 2021; MEMO: A UN Human Rights Rapporteur has condemned attacks on Palestinian by extreme right-wing groups in Israel, including settlers with the backing of state security forces. The international organisation's Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues urged the Israeli government to protect all of its citizens fully and equally without discrimination, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported.