MULTICULTURAL NEWS AUSTRALIA
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May 2023 - Vol 1, Issue 9
Australia’s initiative to boost disaster preparedness in Solomon Islands
Sudanese army sends negotiators to Saudi Arabia to discuss humanitarian truce
Honiara, May 5 (MCNA Newsdesk) ustralia’s High Commissioner to Solomon Islands (SI) Rod Hilton met with NGOs from the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP), to hear about the inclusive community-level disaster resilience work Australia is supporting in
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99 communities across eight provinces in Solomon Islands under the Disaster READY program. The program is part of the broader Australia’s partnership with Solomon Islands on disaster resilience, which supports the Solomon Islands Government to prepare for, respond to, and continued on pg. 9
Likelihood of El Nino developing later this year rising: WMO
Geneva, May 4 (IANS) The likelihood of El Nino developing later this year is increasing, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. This would have the opposite impacts on weather and climate patterns in many regions of the world to the long-running La Nina and would likely raise global temperatures, according to the WMO’s El Nino /La Nina Update,
which is based on input from WMO Global Producing Centres of Long-Range Forecasts and expert assessment. The unusually stubborn La Nina has now ended after a three-year run and the tropical Pacific is currently in an ENSO-neutral state (neither El Nino nor La Nina), reports Xinhua news agency. continued on pg. 19
Commonwealth nations face 63% hit to GDP due to climate change
New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) A study published by international development charity Christian Aid on Thursday highlighted the devastating economic impact climate change will inflict on Commonwealth countries. The study, ‘The climate cost to the Commonwealth’, was led by Marina Andrijevic, an economist at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna. By 2050 and 2100, the economies www.mcna.org
of these countries are still expected to be higher than they are today. It highlights the amount of damage caused to their GDP by climate change, compared to a scenario where climate change didn’t take place. Estimates based on peer-reviewed methodology by Burke et al show that on current climate policies, where global temperature rise reaches around 2.7 C by the end of the century, Commonwealth countries can expect to suffer an average GDP hit of minus 19 per cent by 2050 and of minus 63 per cent by 2100. Even if countries keep global temperature rise to 1.5C as set out in the Paris Agreement, Commonwealth nations face a mean GDP reduction of minus 13 per cent by 2050 and minus 32 per cent by 2100. According to Christian Aid, this continued on pg. 9
Khartoum, May 6 (IANS) The Sudanese Army said that it has sent negotiators to the Saudi port city of Jeddah to discuss the humanitarian truce as part of a Saudi-American initiative to end the conflict in the African country. As part of the Saudi-American initiative, a delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces left for Jeddah to discuss the details relating to the truce, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement issued on Friday by the Sudanese army. “This tends to secure and prepare the suitable circumstances to deal with the humanitarian aspects for our citizens under the current conditions,” the statement added.
Earlier this week, both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend the truce for seven days. The RSF has not officially confirmed that it had sent negotiators to Jeddah, though local media reports said so. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict. According to UN statistics, thousands of Sudanese citizens have been displaced or forced to seek refuge in safe areas in Sudan and neighboring countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia and Chad.
So far, the deadly clashes have left 550 people dead and 4,926 others wounded, according to the Sudanese health ministry.
During Raisi’s landmark visit, Syria & Iran sign MOUs for long-term cooperation Damascus, May 4 (IANS) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his visiting Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi have signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for “long-term and comprehensive cooperation” in various fields, state media reported. Raisi has become the first Iranian President to visit Syria after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. The MOUs cover cooperation in the fields of oil, communications, civil aviation, railways, and agriculture, among others, reports Xinhua news agency. Following the signing of the MOUs, Assad was quoted as saying that the talks with Raisi had centres largely on economic issues. He noted that the projects under discussion would give the
bilateral relations a strong boost by setting up mechanisms for trade exchange and investment to mitigate the impact of the Western sanctions. He pointed out that both countries would “benefit from the change in the economic map of the world and the gradual shift of balance towards the East, which would liberate international economies from
the domination of the West and, as a result, the blockade (Western nations’ economic sanctions) would gradually lose its effects”. On his part, Raisi said he and Assad discussed the development of bilateral relations in all domains, stressing that “we are determined to develop the relations with all regional countries”. continued on pg. 9
Covid-19 no longer a public health emergency: WHO New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) After three long gruelling years of Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday declared that the pandemic is no longer a public health emergency. Covid-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in January 2020. About six weeks later, it was characterised as a pandemic. The deadly disease has to date infected over 763 million and claimed more than 6.9 million lives globally. Based on a decreasing trend in Covid-19 deaths, related hospitalisations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday recommended to end the health emergency at the 15th meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR)
Emergency Committee. The Committee’s position has been evolving over the last several months. While acknowledging the remaining uncertainties posted by potential evolution of SARS-CoV-2, they advised that it is time to transition to long-term management of the Covid-19 pandemic. “For more than a year the pandemic has been on a downward trend,” Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on Friday.
“This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before Covid-19. “Yesterday, the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” he said. The SARS-CoV-2 virus will, however, continue to have pandemic status like HIV. Although there has been a fresh
continued on pg. 19
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