A four year WHO-sponsored investigation of the origins of the COVID pandemic by an international group of experts has concluded that “most scientific data and accessible published scientific evidence” support the hypothesis that the novel SARS-CoV2 virus first entered the human population either directly from virus-carrying bats, or from bats to humans via intermediate hosts.   […] Continue reading ->
This story was updated to reflect new developments on Friday, 27 June.  Israel ordered a near-total halt to food and humanitarian aid deliveries to over two million Gazans facing a territory-wide threat of famine on Thursday after an AFP video surfaced showing dozens of armed men riding atop a convoy of flatbed trucks loaded with […] Continue reading ->
The world is within striking distance of enforcing the first legally binding treaty to protect vast areas of waters beyond national jurisdictions that cover two-thirds of the planet’s surface, a historic step that would place biodiversity in the long-lawless high seas under international law for the first time. Nineteen countries ratified the High Seas Treaty […] Continue reading ->
African countries at the World Health Assembly called for increased support to health systems across the continent following major cuts to all World Health Organization (WHO) regional office budgets amid a financial crisis triggered by the US withdrawal from the agency and falling global health spending. The African region suffered the largest total cut, losing […] Continue reading ->