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Ursula von der Leyen is facing an unfortunate and unnecessary challenge to her plans to increase investment as part of her second term as European Commission President. The political guidelines for her second term set out to “turbo charge investment”, promising to “unlock the financing needed for the green, digital and social transition.”

L’activité industrielle dans la zone euro a continué de se contracter en juillet, d'après une enquête publiée jeudi 1er août. Les difficultés économiques de l’Europe ne semblent pas vouloir s’atténuer malgré des données de croissance légèrement supérieures aux prévisions des analystes au début de la semaine.

La Commission européenne a annoncé jeudi 1er août donner son feu vert, sous certaines conditions, au rachat de la société Viterra par le géant américain du négoce agricole Bunge, une mégafusion d’un montant de plus de 8 milliards de dollars annoncée il y a un an.

As the annual Rule of Law Report highlighted the deterioration of press freedom in Italy, the head of the country's largest journalists' union accused Prime Minister Georgia Meloni of shifting the blame.

Pour la première fois dans l'histoire olympique, Paris 2024 proposera un service de crèche à l'intérieur du village des athlètes pour les mères qui allaitent et les personnes qui s'occupent des enfants.

574175 Nino Sukhitashvili OSCE Mission to Moldova

With the financial and technical support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, 154 tons of dangerous chemicals were safely removed, repackaged and transported from Transdniestria for incineration in Germany.

The chemicals were collected from electrical sub-stations in Bender, Grigoriopol, Hirtop, Dubasari, Ribnita, Camenca and from the Moldavizolit plant in Tiraspol. The chemicals traveled to Germany in eight trucks for incineration at a special site designed for the elimination of hazardous waste.

This project aims to strengthen the cooperation between the two banks of the Dniester/Nistru River in addressing issues of environmental safety, disaster risk reduction and hazardous waste management. It also demonstrates to people on both banks the OSCE’s genuine interest in their wellbeing.

“Authorities from Tiraspol and Chisinau who oversaw the removal of these dangerous chemicals are committed to improving people’s health. They transformed the risks of these toxic chemicals into fruitful cooperation, as they agreed on the transportation of the chemicals to Germany for incineration”, said Ambassador Kelly Keiderling, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.

Following requests from the Moldovan government and Transdniestrian representatives, the OSCE developed the project to facilitate the disposal of some 363 tons of dangerous chemicals. In June 2023, the OSCE Mission to Moldova and Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Moldova signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the “Removal and Disposal of Dangerous Chemicals from Moldova”. In the second half of 2024, about 210 tons of dangerous chemicals will be removed, repackaged and transported from the right bank of the Dniester/Nistru River.

Világszerte több ezer Android készüléket fertőzött meg egy összehangolt csalóhálózat, amely Telegram botokon keresztül küldött SMS-ekkel terjeszti a kártevő szoftvereket. A támadások célja a pénzügyi haszonszerzés, valamint az áldozatok telefonjainak felhasználása illegális tevékenységekhez.

A Zimperium kutatói által feltárt kampány során több mint 600 szolgáltatáshoz tartozó egyszer használatos jelszavakat (OTP) loptak el a hackerek. A Telegram botokon keresztül terjesztett kártevők hamis Google Play áruházakba irányítják az áldozatokat, ahol a rosszindulatú alkalmazások letöltésére csábítják őket.

A személyre szabott támadásokhoz a botok megszerzik az áldozatok telefonszámát, majd ezt felhasználva egyedi APK fájlokat hoznak létre. Az így telepített kártevők képesek rögzíteni az SMS üzeneteket, beleértve a kétfaktoros hitelesítéshez szükséges kódokat is.

A csalók a megszerzett telefonszámokat és jelszavakat online platformokon és szolgáltatásokon való hitelesítésre használják, miközben jogosulatlan díjakat generálnak az áldozatok mobilszámláin.

A Zimperium szakértői az alábbi tanácsokkal látják el az Android felhasználókat:

• Csak megbízható forrásból származó alkalmazásokat telepítsenek.
• Ne adjanak felesleges engedélyeket az alkalmazásoknak.
• Győződjenek meg róla, hogy a Play Protect aktív az eszközükön.

A pénzügyi csalások elkerüléséről bővebb információ a kiberpajzs.hu weboldalon található.

The post Óriási csalóhálózat terjeszt kártékony SMS-eket, célkeresztben az Android telefonok appeared first on Biztonságpiac.

Written by David de Groot (updated on 02.08.2024).

People from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds face discrimination and its consequences on a daily basis. However, the exact scale of the problem is hard to gauge, owing to a lack of data and general under‑reporting of racist incidents. Although the European Union (EU) has been introducing legislation to combat racial and xenophobic discrimination since 2000, the problem persists. The global Black Lives Matter protests highlighted the need for new measures, while the COVID‑19 pandemic saw a major increase in reports of racist and xenophobic incidents, and the crisis it triggered had a disproportionately large negative effect on racial and ethnic minority groups, in the form of higher death and infection rates.

Studies point to the cost of racial discrimination not only for the individuals concerned, but also for society as a whole. For instance, a 2018 EPRS report argued that the loss in earnings caused by racial and ethnic discrimination for both individuals and societies amounts to billions of euros annually. EU citizens also acknowledge this problem: a 2019 survey found that over half of Europeans believe racial or ethnic discrimination to be widespread in their country.

To address racial discrimination and the inequalities it engenders, the European Commission has put forward a number of equality strategies and actions. The European Parliament, meanwhile, has long demanded an end to racial discrimination. In recent resolutions, Parliament has called for an end to structural racism, discrimination, racial profiling and police brutality; for protection of the right to protest peacefully; for an enhanced role for culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism; and for authorities to take an intersectional approach. On 20 and 21 March 2024, Members of the European Parliament from the Anti‑Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) co‑hosted the third EU Anti‑Racism and Diversity Week.

This updates a briefing from March 2023.

Read the complete briefing on ‘EU legislation and policies to fight racial and ethnic discrimination‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Prevalence of racial discrimination in different areas of life in the five years before the FRA 2022 EU Survey on Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants, by country (%) Discrimination based on ethnic or immigrant background in different areas of life in the 12 months before the FRA EU MIDIS II survey of 2017, by survey target group (%)

Das EU-Parlament steht kurz vor dem Abschluss der Aufteilung seines Ausschusses für Umwelt und Gesundheit (ENVI), wie es aus Parlamentskreisen hieß. Der derzeitige Unterausschuss für öffentliche Gesundheit (SANT) soll dabei zu einem ständigen Ausschuss aufgewertet werden.

Der jüngste weltweite Bericht von The Lancet über Demenzprävention, -intervention und -pflege kommt zu dem Schluss, dass etwa 45 Prozent der Demenzfälle potenziell vermeidbar seien. Dazu müssten 14 Risikofaktoren angegangen werden.

Noyb hat am Donnerstag (1. August) die Hamburger Datenschutzbehörde verklagt, um deren jüngste Entscheidung zu kippen, dass das „Pay-or-Okay“-Modell des Spiegels rechtmäßig sei. Das Argument: Die Behörde habe die Zeitung in einem früheren Fall rechtlich beraten.

Budapest will die Visabestimmungen für russische und weißrussische Staatsangehörige lockern. Auch die EU sieht den Schritt äußerst kritisch, denn er könnte Tür und Angel für russische Spionagetätigkeit öffnen. 

The European Parliament marks European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and honours the Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The European Parliament marks European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and honours the Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The European Parliament marks European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and honours the Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The European Parliament marks European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and honours the Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The European Commission has started moving ahead with efforts to facilitate data centres for artificial intelligence (AI), needed to boost the EU’s competitiveness globally.  

Die Industrietätigkeit in der Eurozone schrumpfte im Juli weiter, wie eine Unternehmensumfrage am Donnerstag (1. August) bestätigte. Europas Wirtschaftsflaute scheint damit auch weiterhin anzuhalten.

Activists protest during the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS2024) in Munich over a affordable pricing for a drug currently sold by pharmaceutical firm Gilead. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS

By Ed Holt
MUNICH, Aug 2 2024 (IPS)

Campaigners and experts have demanded a breakthrough HIV intervention hailed as “the closest thing to an HIV vaccine” must be made available as soon and as cheaply as possible to all who need it as its manufacturer faces protests over its pricing.

Activists led a massive protest during the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS2024) in Munich last week as a study was presented showing lenacapavir—a drug currently sold by pharmaceutical firm Gilead for more than USD 40,000 per year as an HIV treatment—could be sold for USD 40 per year as a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to help prevent HIV infection.

Community groups working in prevention, as well as experts and senior figures at international organizations fighting HIV, called on the company to ensure it will be priced so it is affordable for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which account for 95 percent of HIV infections.

“It is no exaggeration to call lenacapavir a game changer. It could be life-changing for some populations. We need to see it produced generically and supplied to all low- and middle-income countries to the people who need it,” said Dr. Helen Bygrave, chronic disease advisor at Medecins sans Frontiere’s (MSF) Access Campaign.

During the event, data from a trial of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable, were presented. The results of the trial were announced by pharmaceutical firm Gilead last month and showed the drug offered 100% protection to more than 5,000 women in South Africa and Uganda.

Many experts and community leaders helping deliver HIV interventions who spoke to IPS described the drug as a real “game changer,” offering not just spectacular efficacy but relative ease and discretion in delivery—the latter key in combating stigma connected with HIV prevention intervention in some societies—compared to other interventions, such as oral PrEP.

But they warned there were likely to be challenges to access, with cost expected to be the main barrier.

Lenacapavir is currently approved only as a form of HIV treatment at a price of USD 42,000 per person per year.

While as a PrEP intervention it would be expected to be sold at a much lower price, an abstract presented at the conference showed that it could cost just USD 40 a year for every patient.

In a statement put out following the protests, Gilead said it was developing “a strategy to enable broad, sustainable access globally” but that it was too early to give details on pricing.

Critics claimed Gilead was not being transparent in its statement—the company talked of being committed to access pricing for high-incidence, resource-limited countries rather than specifically low- and middle-income countries—and there are fears that the price at which it is eventually made available as PrEP will be so high as to put it out of reach of the countries that are struggling most with the HIV epidemic.

“Cabotegravir, a two-month injectable form of PrEP, is currently being procured by MSF for low-income countries for USD 210 per person per year. We would not expect [the price for lenacapavir] to be higher than that, and we would hope it would be more ‘in the ballpark’ of  USD 100 per person per year,” said Bygrave.

She added that “questions have been asked of Gilead about its pricing for lenacapavir, and the company has been pretty vague in its answers.”

“Civil society needs to put continued pressure on Gilead about this issue because, without that pressure, I do not trust Gilead to do the right thing,” Bygrave, who took part in protests at the conference against Gilead’s pricing, said.

Some speakers at the conference set out a series of demands for the firm.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, called on Gilead to license generic manufacturers to produce it more affordably through mechanisms such as the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a UN-backed programme negotiating generics agreements between originators and generic pharmaceutical companies.

Others, such as keynote speaker Helen Clark, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, said such interventions must be seen as “common global goods, and ways must be found to make them accessible to all.”

“The pharmaceutical industry has been the beneficiary of much public research investment. With respect to HIV/AIDS, it has benefited from the mobilization of scientists and engaged communities who have advocated for investment in R&D and treatments. Prima facie, the notion that the companies can then make great profits from and not share the intellectual property created is wrong,” she said.

Others went even further, accusing some pharmaceutical firms of being parties to the creation of a de facto global two-tier system for medicine supply.

“Companies must share their medicines. We cannot accept an apartheid in access to medicine in which the lives of those living in the Global South are not regarded as having the same value as the lives in the North,” Archbishop Dr Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Cape Town and HIV advocate, said at a UNAIDS press event during the conference.

Some of those who work with key populations stressed the need to push through all necessary approvals and set lenacapavir’s price at an accessible level as quickly as possible to save lives.

“It’s great to have innovation and get important new tools in the fight against HIV. But the question is: how long will it take to get them to the people who need them? Until then, they are just a great announcement—like a beautiful picture hanging up there that you can see but cannot actually touch. We need to give communities the funding and the tools they need to do their vital work,” Anton Basenko, Chair of the Board of the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), told IPS.

The calls came as campaigners stressed the exceptional potential of lenacapavir. It is not only its astonishing efficacy, but also its relative ease and discretion of delivery, which experts are excited about.

Stigma around HIV prevention, such as oral PrEP, which involves taking daily tablets, has been identified as a major barrier to the uptake of HIV interventions in some regions.

Some HIV healthcare specialists at the conference told IPS they had seen cases of women leaving clinics with bottles of tablets and, as soon as they heard them rattling in the bottle, threw them into the bin outside the clinic because the noise would tell others they were taking the tablets and leave them open to potential discrimination, or even gender-based violence.

“The lack of oral PrEP uptake and adherence among women and girls is due to a number of factors, such as stigma and worries about being seen with a huge bottle of pills. What about if you are in a relationship and your partner sees the bottle and starts asking whether you are cheating on them or something?

“A woman could go and get a lenacapavir injection a couple of times a year and no one would have to even know and she wouldn’t have to think about taking pills every day and just get on with her life. This drug could change lives completely. I would definitely take it if it was available,” Sinetlantla Gogela, an HIV prevention advocate from Cape Town, South Africa, told IPS.

The concerns around access to lenacapavir at an affordable price for low and middle income countries come against a background of record debt levels among poor countries, which experts say could have a severe negative impact on the HIV epidemic.

A recent report from the campaign group Debt Relief International showed that more than 100 countries are struggling to service their debts, resulting in them cutting back on investment in health, education, social protection and climate change measures.

Speakers at the conference repeatedly warned these debts had to be addressed to ensure HIV programmes, whether they include lenacapavir or not, continue. Many called for immediate debt relief in countries.

“African debt needs to be restructured to let countries get hold of the medicines they need,” said Byanyima.

“Drop the debt; it is choking global south countries, denying us what we need for health. Please let us breathe,” said Makgoba.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The UN's focus on green energy, plastic, biodiversity, and early warnings aims to safeguard the Maldives from climate change. Credit: UNDP Maldives / Ashwa Faheem

By Bradley Busetto and Bjorn Andersson
MALE, Maldives, Aug 2 2024 (IPS)

The ocean is our lifeline, covering 70 percent of the earth’s surface, it is the source of half of the oxygen we breathe, and it absorbs 26 percent of the carbon dioxide we produce. It is home to millions of marine species, contains 97 percent of all of the water on our planet and offers humankind immense resources. 

Maldives – 500,000 people living in ocean-side communities across an archipelago of 26 atolls and 1,192 islands – demonstrates both the challenges of living within an ocean world and its vast potential. Therefore, we must ensure that the ocean is not only our treasured history but part of our healthy and prosperous future as well.

The UN in Maldives together with Ocean Generation (an organization working to restore a healthy relationship between people and the ocean), is supporting the Maldives in meeting the increasing dangers of the climate crisis and preserving and protecting our threatened ocean.

At the recently concluded 4th Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) Conference in Antigua, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu directly addressed these challenges, calling for international public and private sector finance to invest in Maldives – to provide urgently needed climate financing for new green energy sources and to fund climate protection for communities and islands threatened by rising sea levels.

Recognizing the precarious state of our oceans due to human consumption patterns and global heating, the President has recently ordered a pause to coastal development activities over concerns of high-water temperatures and coral bleaching in nearby waters.

Heeding the President’s call, the UN and Ocean Generation are looking forward to working with Maldives towards solutions for the challenges faced by one of the most climate-vulnerable states in the world.

Here are four key areas with the potential to make the biggest difference.

1) Green energy

A critical issue for Maldives is to reduce the use of expensive diesel fuel for energy production and transport between the many and distant atolls and island communities. Less diesel fuel use is a win-win: fewer carbon emissions and less foreign exchange spent on costly imported fuel.

International investment is urgently needed to scale-up commercial, private-sector supported solar and other renewable energy sources for the capital city Malé and other urban areas, for smaller island communities, and for resorts.

Meeting the Government’s goal of 33 per cent green energy supply by 2028 is a key priority where UN and World Bank initiatives can contribute.

2) Reducing plastic pollution

Safely disposing of waste and reducing the amount of waste that is generated are crucial goals for improving the lives of coastal communities. Reducing the import of single use, throwaway plastics into Maldives that ultimately end in our ocean and wash up on the shores of Maldives atolls, will be essential.

Global plastic production is currently around 420 million metric tonnes per year.  Half of this is destined for single-use. We cannot rely on recycling to address our plastic waste problem.  Only 13 percent of global plastic is recycled and of that 13 percent, only 1 percent is re-used through the system again meaning that even the plastic that does get recycled will eventually end up in landfill, being burned or in the environment.

Maldives Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology’s efforts to increase fees on plastic bags is essential to the national goal of phasing out plastic usage. Working with the Government, the UN and Ocean Generation strive to raise awareness among stakeholders of the cost of inaction and the shift towards environmentally-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics.

The rich biodiversity of the Maldives is vital for the resilience of its island communities, supporting thriving fisheries, diverse vegetation, and various economic opportunities. Credit: UNDP Maldives / Ashwa Faheem

3) Biodiversity conservation

The broad biodiversity of Maldives coastal and marine life is the key to resilience of the interconnected communities of the islands, through fisheries and vegetation and economic livelihoods. Maldives can act as a global laboratory both for oceanic health and for the immediate and dynamic effects of climate change. Ongoing UN initiatives focused on conservation and sustainably managing coral reefs in fishing communities are already laying the ground for local lessons to shape national policy change.

4) Fighting climate change

The ocean is our biggest ally when it comes to climate change, especially with regards to absorbing heat. Average global temperatures today sit at 15 degrees C, (59 F) and without the ocean absorbing heat, that average is estimated to be 50 degrees C (122 F).  Maldives has already demonstrated its commitment to climate resilience, by becoming the first country in Asia and the first Small Island Developing State to embrace the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative.

Globally, it is the first country to endorse a national EW4All road map, at the presidential level, to ensure multi-hazard early warnings for all by 2027. Continuing to conserve, protect and restore marine resources, as a clear nature-based solution to climate change, is of utmost priority.

Maldives’ climate initiatives offer valuable lessons for all island nations, and their successful implementation could serve as a model for global change. By scaling up efforts to reduce fossil fuel dependence and combat throwaway consumerism, we can protect our oceans and planet, creating a sustainable future for all.

This article was adapted from an Op-Ed written by the UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives Bradley Busetto and the founder of Ocean Generation Jo Ruxton, MBE. The links follow: maldives.un.org oceangeneration.org.

Source: UN Development Coordination Office (UNDCO).

IPS UN Bureau

 

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