Today, when the UN plans initiatives to help vulnerable communities become more resilient, the climate crisis has to be part of the equation. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is connecting the dots between people and the impacts that climate change is having on their lives.
Orcas are lingering longer in the Arctic Ocean, as sea ice there shrinks. The whales often travel to access varieties of prey, but it’s likely there are now more hunting opportunities in the Arctic.
The leader of West Australia has suggested that US-based “white supremacist groups” may be to blame for low vaccination rates among Aboriginals, claiming indigenous peoples have been targeted with anti-vaxx propaganda.
“There’s been some misinformation provided to Aboriginal people from people who do not have their best interests at heart,” West Australia Premier Mark McGowan told reporters on Thursday, adding that he had “heard from one Aboriginal person who said white supremacist groups are sending information to Aboriginal people that they shouldn’t get vaccinated.”
Now, the suspicion is these white supremacist groups out of America wouldn’t be unhappy if bad outcomes occurred to the health of Aboriginal people in Australia. That’s the problem we face.
McGowan warned that “white supremacists” were allegedly seeking to “to harm Aboriginal people” and urged the indigenous community to “listen to the experts” when it comes to vaccines.
Some 75% of West Australia’s population of 2.6 million is fully vaccinated, according to local media, though rates among Aboriginals continue to lag in the 30% range.
Earlier this week, the premier in Perth doubled down on West Australia’s strict, ongoing border closures with other states, arguing that recent measures taken by the federal government over fears of the coronavirus Omicron strain vindicate his administration’s decisions.
“It turns out that borders and measures to keep people out who might be infected work,” he said.
The state plans to drop its border restrictions when it hits a full-vaccination target of 90% – slightly more strict than an 80% goal set by the federal government – and McGowan is expected to put a hard date on a reopening plan sometime in the coming days.
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Dec 03 (IPS) – In these times of COVIDisolation, social distance get on the nerves of several of us and the effects may be long-lasting, even endemic. Many schoolchildren have interacted and still meet with their teachers through computer networks, while the same phenomenon applies to their contact with others. Technical devices are with an ever-increasing scope becoming an integral part of all communication, teaching, and entertainment, in short – of social interaction. When it comes to education, given all the poor and even harmful educators we are forced to encounter during our lifetime, mechanization of education might be perceived as a step forward. Nevertheless, too much dependence on the internet might undoubtedly have its pitfalls; contributing to an abstraction of our existence where real adventures and life-changing encounters with other human beings become all the rarer. The world may be demystified, losing its wonder and magic.
