A global treaty to fight pandemics such as Covid-19 is on hold after more than two years of negotiations as countries disagree how the world might respond to the next health emergency. After Covid-19 triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organisation (WHO) vowed to do better in the […]
GENEVA (AP) — U.N. member countries on Friday concluded a new treaty to help ensure that traditional knowledge about genetic resources, like medicines derived from exotic plants in the Andes mountains, is properly traced. It marks the first time the 193 member states of the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization have reached agreement on patent […]
GENEVA (AP) — After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak. A […]
icon Semafor Signals Supported by Microsoft logo Insights from Eco Business, Bloomberg, Reuters Arrow Down Title icon The News Thousands of negotiators representing more than 170 nations, researchers, civil society groups and businesses gathered in Canada this week to draft the first global treaty to reduce the growing problem of plastic pollution. Plastics currently account […]
A fourth and penultimate round of talks on a United Nations treaty to combat plastic pollution will begin in the Canadian capital Ottawa on Tuesday. Representatives from more than 170 countries are expected to attend the negotiations, which are scheduled to run until next Monday. “This negotiation is pivotal,” said UN Environment Programme official Jyoti […]
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Belarusian parliament on Wednesday voted to suspend the country’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty that once was a key security doctrine for the continent, a 1990 agreement that was abandoned last year by Russia. The bill, introduced by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier this month, could pave […]
The Australian government did not sign a treaty with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to “close all major banks” in the country, contrary to false posts shared thousands of times online. There was no official report of any such treaty as of April 10, 2024. Spokespersons for Australia’s foreign ministry and the WEF separately rejected […]
Sweden became the newest member of NATO earlier this month, joining 31 nations in the security alliance, including the United States. Well, make that 49 of the 50 United States. Because in a quirk of geography and history, Hawaii is not technically covered by the NATO pact. If a foreign power attacked Hawaii – say […]
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia and the United Kingdom signed a new defense and security cooperation agreement with the defense ministers of both countries saying it was required to meet ‘contemporary challenges’ to maintain a global rules-based order. The treaty was signed by Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and his U.K. counterpart Grant Shapps following annual […]
ONONDAGA NATION TERRITORY, N.Y. — Four or five years ago, Sidney Hill’s young son came to him with a question that Hill didn’t know how to answer. The boy had learned that day about the millions of acres of land that his people, the Onondaga, had once called home, and the way that their homeland […]
The Pope has appeared at his weekly audience after cancelling all appointments earlier in the week due to a mild flu, remembering the victims of land mines and calling for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere. The Pope was pushed in a wheelchair into the audience hall at the Vatican on Wednesday, appearing […]
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis appeared Wednesday at his weekly audience after canceling all appointments earlier in the week due to a mild flu, remembering the victims of land mines and calling for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere. The pope was pushed in a wheelchair into the audience hall at the […]