International

WHO raises nearly $250 million in private donations to fight Covid

AFP/Editor

The World Health Organization said today that a fund it launched a year ago to draw donations from regular people and companies towards battling the pandemic had raised nearly $250 million.

Countries have pitched in billions of dollars to help the global fight against Covid-19, which has killed more than 2.6 million people since the first cases were detected in China in late 2019.

But noting an eagerness among the general public to help, the UN health agency decided to create the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for individual donations, which it launched on March 15, 2020.

As of Monday, it said, more than 661,000 individuals, companies and other organisations had pitched in a total of $242 million, in what WHO described as an “unprecedented show of support”.

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The fund, which is unique within the UN system, had helped provide millions of frontline workers with critical personal protective equipment, medical supplies and testing kits, and to battle misinformation about Covid-19, WHO said.

International

NFL Investigating Emails Linking Giants Executive to Jeffrey Epstein

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Monday that the league will “examine all the facts” regarding contacts between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, revealed in documents recently released about the late convicted sex offender.

The batch of files, made public on Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice, includes emails suggesting that Epstein introduced several women to Tisch.

Tisch, a film producer who has never been charged in connection with Epstein, issued a statement last week denying any wrongdoing.

“I had a brief relationship in which we exchanged emails about adult women, and we also discussed film, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch said of his correspondence with Epstein, which dates back to 2013.

“I did not accept any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all now know, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret having associated with,” he added.

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Speaking at a press conference in San Jose, California, on Monday, Goodell said the NFL would carefully review the details of the ties between Tisch and Epstein.

“We’re going to examine all the facts,” the commissioner said. “We’re going to look at the context of those exchanges, try to understand them, and see how that fits within the league’s policies.”

Tisch, 76, could face disciplinary action under the NFL’s strict personal conduct policy, even if he is not found guilty of a crime.

“We’re going to take this step by step. First, let’s gather all the facts,” Goodell said at the press conference, which was part of the events leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

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International

Spain Seeks to Ban Social Media Access for Children Under 16

The Spanish government wants to ban access to social media for children under the age of 16 to shield them from a world of “pornography” and “violence,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Tuesday in Dubai.

“Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16,” Sánchez said during a speech at the World Governments Summit, being held in the United Arab Emirates city.

The Spanish leader said social media platforms will be required to implement effective age-verification systems, going beyond simple checkboxes to establish “real barriers that actually work.”

“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” Sánchez said, describing an environment of “addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence.”

“We will no longer accept this,” he added.

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The left-wing prime minister also announced plans to change the law so that “platform executives are legally responsible for many of the violations that occur on their websites.”

“This means that the CEOs of these technology platforms will face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal content or material that incites hatred,” Sánchez said.

International

Mexico to Send Humanitarian Aid to Cuba Amid U.S. Threats Over Oil Shipments

Mexico will send “humanitarian aid” to Cuba this week, including food and “essential supplies,” President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Sunday, after the United States threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.

“We are planning humanitarian aid for Cuba (…) including food and other products, while we resolve diplomatically everything related to the shipment of oil for humanitarian reasons,” Sheinbaum said during a public event.

Mexico has become a key oil supplier to Cuba, which is facing a deep energy crisis worsened by the suspension of crude oil shipments from Venezuela following U.S. military intervention in that country and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Sheinbaum has previously warned that Mexico would continue to act in “solidarity” with Cuba, although she instructed her foreign minister to establish contact with Washington to “clearly understand the scope” of President Donald Trump’s decree sanctioning hydrocarbon shipments to the island.

While her government seeks a diplomatic solution with the U.S. administration, the leftist president decided to proceed with the delivery of other humanitarian goods.