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Child mental health crisis ‘magnified’ by COVID, warns UN chief

“I also urge governments to take a preventive approach by addressing the determinants of mental well-being through robust social protection for children and families”, he added, saying that mental health and psychosocial support, together with community-based approaches to care, are “integral to universal health coverage. They cannot be its forgotten part.”

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Time running out for countries on climate crisis front line

The Secretary-General reminded that the climate impacts we are seeing today – currently at 1.2 degrees above pre-industrial levels – give the world a glimpse of what lies ahead: prolonged droughts, extreme and intensified weather events and ‘horrific flooding’.

“Science has long warned that we need to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Beyond that, we risk calamity… Limiting global temperature rise is a matter of survival for climate vulnerable countries”, he emphasized.

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11 people die of hunger each minute around globe, 155 mn in crisis: Oxfam

The humanitarian group also said that 155 million people around the world are now living in crisis levels of food insecurity or worse some 20 million more than last year. Around two thirds of them face hunger because their country is in military conflict.

Today, unrelenting conflict on top of the COVID-19 economic fallout, and a worsening climate crisis, has pushed more than 520,000 people to the brink of starvation, added Maxman.

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52 killed In Bangladesh factory fire, building still in flames

The country has pledged reforms since the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 when a nine-storey complex collapsed killing more than 1,100 people. But critics say safety standards are still lax.

In February 2019, at least 70 people died when an inferno ripped through Dhaka apartments where chemicals were illegally stored.

The latest fire broke out at Hashem Food and Beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial town outside Dhaka, on Thursday afternoon and was still raging almost 24 hours later.

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European Commission approval a mMajor Step for Pending Aon and Willis Towers Watson Combination

“This is a major step that demonstrates continued progress toward obtaining regulatory clearances for the proposed combination. Both firms operate across broad, competitive areas of the economy and believe this approval affirms that our proposed combination will accelerate innovation on behalf of clients, creating more choice in an already dynamic and competitive marketplace,” said a statement issued jointly by both the firms

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Asia-Pacific Climate week 2021 sends strong signal to COP26

The Asia-Pacific regions emits more than half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the most rapidly developing regions of the world, with a significant proportion of the global population. And it is home to most of the world’s low-lying cities and vulnerable small island states.

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IMF approves $650 billion expansion in resources to fight pandemic

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Friday that the new support, the largest such expansion in the history of the 190-nation lending institution, would be a shot in the arm for the world.
Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious-affiliated development group Jubilee USA Network, said that the IMF action would allow developing countries to immediately receive more than USD200 billion in support.

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Shipping chaos kills 1,800 cows, fueling health risks

When it comes to animal welfare, transport by sea is a big black hole,” said Thomas Waitz, an organic farmer from Austria who is a European parliamentary representative on a committee charged with updating the rules for the cross-border shipping of animals. “Ship transports completely fall outside of any regulations or animal-welfare standards. Public health is at risk if animals are transported in conditions where germs and bacteria can flourish.”

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