Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2020

UN Chief calls the World to Action on Corona Pandemic




Source: Press TV

UN chief says declaration of coronavirus pandemic is call to action

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on governments to immediately “scale up” their efforts to confront the new coronavirus in an attempt to stop the now-global pandemic.

“Today’s declaration of a pandemic is a call to action — for everyone, everywhere,” Guterres said in a statement released on Wednesday, referring to the announcement earlier in the day by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the coronavirus outbreak is now a global pandemic.

“As we fight the virus, we cannot let fear go viral,” Guterres added. “Together, we can still change the course of this pandemic — but that means addressing inaction. I call on every government to step up and scale up their efforts now.”

He said the transmission of the virus could be much curtailed if countries tracked and isolated confirmed and suspected cases.

The WHO earlier on Wednesday described the deadly virus outbreak as a pandemic and blamed its spread on “alarming levels of inaction.”

The coronavirus, which emerged in China in December last year, has spread around the world, halting industries, bringing travel to a standstill, closing schools, and forcing the cancellation of public events.

More than 126,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 4,630 have died, the vast majority of them in China, according to a Reuters tally.

China’s Hubei sees single-digit increase for first time

China’s National Health Commission announced on Wednesday that Hubei Province, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak, had for the first time recorded a single-digit increase in the number of new coronavirus infections in its daily tally.

The commission said only eight cases had been recorded, all of them in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei.

The development comes as more businesses reopened in the Chinese province, with local authorities cautiously easing strict containment measures that have been implemented to contain the outbreak.

Moreover, seven new cases were reported in mainland China on Wednesday, bringing the total daily tally combined with those in Hubei to 15, which showed a drop from 24 cases a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed cases recorded in mainland China now stands at 80,793, and the death toll has reached 3,169 people. As of Tuesday, 62,793 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital — nearly 80% of the overall infections.

While COVID-19 is spreading quickly across the globe, its progress in China has slowed markedly over the past seven days as a result of weeks of strict measures imposed to curb its outbreak, including the lockdown on Wuhan.

Peak of coronavirus epidemic has passed: China

China’s National Health Commission announced on Thursday that the country’s coronavirus epidemic had now passed its peak.

“Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China,” said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission. “The increase of new cases is falling.”

New coronavirus cases slow in South Korea, too

Meanwhile, South Korea reported 114 new cases of the coronavirus and six more deaths on Thursday, resuming a relative decline in new cases after a spike the day before.

The new cases bring the country’s total to 7,869, with 66 deaths.

The numbers are far lower than the peak of the deadly virus outbreak in South Korea on February 29, when 909 confirmed cases were reported.

Italy shuts stores across country

In Italy, which has been the hardest hit by the virus after China, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday announced the closure of all “shops, bars, pubs, and restaurants” across the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The closure order will not apply to pharmacies and food shops.

Conte’s announcement came hours after his government promised to spend up to 28 billion dollars to shore up the economy amid the outbreak.

The coronavirus has killed 827 people in Italy over the past two weeks. The death toll accounts for nearly 60 percent of the deaths recorded outside China since the epidemic first started in central Hubei.

In a surprise move at the weekend, the Italian government responded to the outbreak by imposing a lockdown on Lombardy, Italy’s rich, northern region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions out of the country’s 19 areas.

The measures included the closure of all museums, cultural centers, cinemas, theaters, and other public venues and events in the affected areas, impacting a total of 16 million people in the country of 60 million.

Philippines’ president to be tested for virus over potential exposure

In a related development on Thursday, a Philippine official said the country’s President Rodrigo Duterte was to be tested for the new coronavirus as part of “precautionary measures” because he had been in regular contact with other officials who for their part had been at risk of exposure.

Two key government buildings in the capital, Manila, namely the Senate building and the Central Bank, were being disinfected over the exposure scare.

Lawmakers and other government officials had earlier attended a series of public events along with local people. The official, named Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, said Duterte, who at 74 is in a vulnerable age group for the virus, will be tested because he had been in regular contact with some of those officials.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 49 as of Wednesday, up more than eight times compared to the past four days. The Philippine Health authorities also announced the Southeast Asian country’s second death, the first since an infected Chinese tourist died last month.
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Corona Virus Updates 2020



Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Upheaval in Turkey: What Comes Next?


By: Stewart Brennan
World United News

A significant rift appears to have opened up between NATO member Turkey and the United States over the July 15th 2016 failed coup on the Erdogan government. The coup has not only sent shock waves throughout Turkey but indeed throughout the global geopolitical arena leaving many to wonder who staged it and what comes next. Was it Fethullah Gulen, the US government, both Gulen and the US government, someone else or was it Erdogan himself?

One of the glaring suspects of who could possibly have staged the Turkish coup is the American Government. If the American’s were involved, then the question is, “Has Erdogan outlived his usefulness to the US governments foreign policy”…or is there something else going on here?

Regardless of who staged the coup, its failure has given Erdogan the one thing he has been seeking since he first came to office, and that’s “Absolute Power”, which he is now using to purge all opposition against him inside the country. At the moment, that makes Erdogan the sole beneficiary of the coup…staged or failed coup, a dictator has risen.

Erdogan’s Purge in Turkey

Erdogan's political purge of those opposing him is not new and has been ongoing since before the coup was even staged. Anyone or any group that opposed Erdogan before the coup was quickly arrested on a myriad of trumped up charges…However, after the failed coup in Turkey, Erdogan quickly seized the opportunity to purge all his political rivals, especially those connected to his arch enemy Fethullah Gulen, citing that they staged the coup against him.

US / Turkey relationship

Has the US / Turkey relationship changed? That all depends on actions taken by the Turkish government going forward, but at the moment, nothing has really changed except finger pointing and word jousts between Turkish officials and the US government…most of which centers around Erdogan’s political rival Fethullah Gulen and the Turkish governments demand for his extradition from the US due to alleged involvement in the coup.

Of course, words are not something to go by, especially when those words come from Erdogan who has a proven track record of lying, deceit and switching sides to benefit his own cause…as for the US government, I can’t remember a time that they told the truth or were honest about anything, so I don’t expect any real information to come from their words…action however is another story.

One thing remains clear, that the US military still occupies Turkey and has a number of nuclear weapons stationed there…pointed at Russia.

Russia / Turkey Relations

Have Russia / Turkey relations changed? Well, since the Turkish government shot down the Russian aircraft over Syria last year, Russian Turkish relations had turned very sour, however, recently, relations between the two countries have improved after Erdogan’s almost apology for shooting down the Russian jet. But again, we are talking about words…words with a small token of action by Turkey to give up the people who shot down the Russian plane and killed the Russian pilot; People I might add, that Erdogan now claims were associated with Fethullah Gulen and his alleged coup…

What we need to see, that proves Turkey is indeed a friend of Russia, is real action, not just mere words…Action such as informing the US & NATO to pack up their nuclear weapons and leave the country; action by Turkey to close its border with Syria to stop all Turkish involvement in the terrorist assault on the Syrian people. Only this type of action by Turkey will convince me that Erdogan is a true friend of Russia.

Gulen the Convenient Excuse

It seems that Fethullah Gulen is Erdogan’s get out of jail free card at the moment because anything that Erdogan has done illegally can now be blamed on the alleged Gulen putch.

This leads me to believe that we are going to see and hear Erdogan blame all the past terrorist associations of his government in Syria on Gulen including the illegal oil trade Erdogan’s family were directly involved with. Everything will now be conveniently blamed on Gulen, weather true or not…this is why I believe Erdogan referred to Gulen in a speech as, “Gulen and his “terrorists” being a “virus”.

Geopolitical Facts on the Ground

The glaring facts on the ground are that the US and its coalition, which includes Turkey, are facing defeat in their war on Syria; an ongoing defeat, which has dragged Turkey deeper into total chaos and ruin despite their NATO status. Defeat in Syria spells enormous trouble for Turkish President Erdogan if he remains in league with US terrorism in Syria.

Yet, the crafty and astonishingly resilient Erdogan seems to have cast off his isolation with Russia by playing the one card he had left in the geopolitical game, an apology to Russia for shooting down their military aircraft over Syria, thus patching up Russia / Turkey relations…a gesture that also benefits the Russians in the wider game of geopolitics and economic stability of the region if "words" can be believed.

As for the Americans, defeat in Syria is a crushing blow that threatens their global economic empire by virtue of losing control of the oil transit routes from Eurasia & the Middle East to energy dependent Europe, a lifeline that props up the American dollar so long as their puppet regimes sell their energy in US dollars. The Independent energy producers such as Russia and Iran have no interest in selling their energy in US dollars because in reality, the US government has imposed a continuous economic war on them…so why should they sell in US dollars?

Considering that Middle East Oil has powered the US economy for the last seven decades, and allowed the US to become a global economic empire, I’d say that the potential loss of energy transit routes through Syria and Turkey play a truly significant roll in the American empire’s decline.

All the Americans have left in this geopolitical game are aggressive war and covert operation cards…cards that include staged uprisings, regime changes, terrorist infiltration, and World War III…the US empire is on the verge of economic collapse by their own hand and are truly desperate to hang on as the worlds only superpower. That makes them very dangerous. Therefore a loss in Syria by the US and its allies will not go unchallenged, as the US government will do anything to find its way back to controlling the region.

It is very feasible that a coup on Turkey’s leader Erdogan was launched by the US and their Turkish connection in order to replace him with someone more obedient to US dictates. If this is the case, then Erdogan has simply become an unreliable problem for the US and outlived his usefulness, much the same way Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did in the 1990’s…

 

Is Turkey distancing itself from the US?

Although Turkey has been a US / NATO player and terrorist supporter in Syria, that may no longer be the case as we see Turkey begin to back away from regime change in Syria while the US & EU ramp up their diplomatic sparring against their ally and NATO partner…however, action speaks louder than words, so again we are all waiting to see what becomes of this trend.

However, there are some interesting developments happening in Turkey at the moment, as the US military at the Incirlik airbase, has become the focus of growing unrest in the country to toss the Americans out due to the role it is alleged to have had in the Turkish coup.

“Know your place!” Erdogan on US official’s reaction to failed coup aftermath – (2016 July 29)


The fact is, that no matter what the US wants, the Erdogan Government in Turkey has the upper hand in deciding the future of those bases which I’m sure will not be removed overnight. They will however, become a source of irritation and hostile backlash by an increasingly “anti-US” Turkish population, should the Americans refuse to leave if told to.

Turkey’s NATO status must certainly hinge on following US Military dictates to the letter regarding US foreign policy, a US foreign policy that no longer benefits the Erdogan regime due to the American’s close association to the Kurds in Syria.

The American Plan “B” in Syria

Erdogan knows only too well how the Americans work with covert operations against regimes they want removed from power. Erdogan's first hand experience over the last five years with the US terrorist operation against the Syrian government should have taught him something…so Erdogan could be on fragile ground with a US backed regime change coup...And now that the US is working closely with the Kurds, Erdogan had not only been isolated from Russia (before the apology), but if true, he became a redundant part of the long term US plan…The US arming the Kurds may have given Erdogan a dose of reality with visions of regime change dancing in his head. Therefore, once Erdogan puts his internal house in its new order, we should expect a shift in Turkey’s actions regarding his position in Syria…that is, if Erdogan has indeed seen the errors of his way…or if indeed the Americans were involved with the coup.

I don’t expect Erdogan will leave NATO as it serves him as a geopolitical safety tool against Russia…Neither will the US throw Turkey out of NATO due to the geopolitical and strategic importance to them...Although the US is very good at arming terrorists to overthrow governments as we have seen throughout the world.

Erdogan Takes Control

The Coup has given Erdogan the means to purge all of his opponents, as well as ridding himself of foreign interference by placing theTurkish Military under government control. No small feat, but a necessary one if Turkey is to become politically independent from foreign interests or to seize total control of the country…this now seems to be the case.

So which way will Turkey go? The logical answer is quite simple…”Follow the Money”. The Eurasian deal is a much safer way for Erdogan to go since the Syrian peoples victory over western terrorism has left Erdogan Isolated with an unreliable American partner who is in full operation of their Plan “B” with their arming of the Kurds for the goal of creating an independent Kurdish state along the Turkish border. Something of a nightmare for Erdogan as American aid (weapons) could spill into Kurdish hands in Turkey as well…

Added to Erdogan’s dilemma is that EU membership is no longer on the table, while US dictatorial occupation is ripping Turkey apart by plunging it into debt & turmoil...this should make for an easy decision on Erdogan’s part to push away from the US, one would think.

So, a temporary, humbling, hat in hand apology to Russia and Erdogan’s no longer isolated by the Americans…and no matter what the Americans might promise now, Erdogan has a better future with Russia since everything Turkey requires can be found on the New Silk Road.

The Turkish Flip Flop

In the end, there is an economic partnership waiting for Turkey with Russia and China that spans the entire region, including a piece of the energy action with pipelines through Turkey to Europe…a Europe I might add that will not be in a position to say nyet to Russian & Iranian Gas and Oil, simply because, they desperately need it.

By no means is Erdogan a trustworthy character. He’s more like an unstable Mob Boss that will switch sides if it benefits his business interests…What Erdogan and Turkey need to remember is that Independence is a great idea, but if you force your views on other Independent nations such as Syria, Libya, Yemen, Russia etc., you will never again know peace…Turkey has a long way to go to make amends, so here’s my advice to Erdogan: get rid of US and NATO from your country, get out of Syria, seal your border and make peace with the Kurds…and one more thing, don’t double cross your friends a second time…trust is earned, but once trust is broken, one will find himself on shaky foundations…
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Thursday, November 14, 2013

TEPCO tries to Cover Up Nuclear Fuel Removal Problems at Fukushima


Remove TEPCO Before Removing Fuel



Video Source: Fairewinds Energy Education
http://fairewinds.org/podcast/remove-tepco-removing-fuel

Fairewinds has fielded a number of questions regarding the removal of the fuel rods from the spent fuel pool in Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi. Today’s video shows Arnie debunking TEPCO’s animated film point by point, and highlights the issues TEPCO will have removing the fuel rods. TEPCO needs to be removed as the organization overseeing the cleanup of the site prior to the removal of the fuel rods.

Please visit the Fairewinds Energy Education website and consider donating at the following link: http://fairewinds.org/donate/
 

ICJ delivers ruling in favour of South Africa

South Africa's Closing Argument Against Israel for Genocide at the ICJ