Saudi Arabia has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to stage high-profile sporting events. Critics say those investments are an attempt by the kingdom to cover up human rights violations.
Publisher Merriam-Webster, which is particularly well-known for its dictionaries, has declared “vaccine” as its word of the year, noting how the medical solution has become a political argument and source of division.
In a publication on Monday, Merriam-Webster said that the number of people looking up the word “vaccine” had increased 1,048% in 2021, compared to 2019 as the publishing group declared it as the word of the year.
The publishing firm said that words can become vehicles for ideological conflict, and that’s exactly what has happened with the word “vaccine.” They claimed that the “promising medical solution” which brought the promise of ending the pandemic that upended everyone’s lives had become “a political argument and source of division.”
“The biggest science story of our time quickly became the biggest debate in our country, and the word at the center of both stories is vaccine,” the Merriam-Webster group wrote.
The American firm also noted that the development of a new type of vaccine, mRNA jabs, prompted the company to change its definition of the word in May. The main description now reads: “a preparation that is administered (as by injection) to stimulate the body’s immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease.” Further text then describes conventional vaccine technology and the mRNA vaccines.
The publisher’s 2020 word of the year was “pandemic,” as the Covid-19 pandemic saw countries around the globe sent into lockdown in an effort to prevent its spread.
The Oxford English Dictionary’s publishers selected “vax” as its word of the year earlier in November.
The World Health Organization published on Sunday an update on the science regarding the new coronavirus variant Omicron which is causing global concern and sparking increasing flight bans on Southern African countries.
Eddie Ndopu, an award-winning disability activist from South Africa, and one of 17 United Nations advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals, lives with spinal muscular atrophy, and faces many difficulty daily challenges. Ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on 3 December, Mr. Ndopu discusses how he has overcome barriers to travel the world advocating for others with disabilities.
Read the full story, “First Person: ‘Disability reminds us that there is no such thing as normal’â€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
In the race to succeed outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the offspring of two presidents are gunning to run the country in an unprecedented tie-up.
France will not be held hostage to Britain’s domestic politics over the Channel migrant crisis, the country’s interior minister has said, signaling, however, readiness to negotiate with London.
The remarks were delivered by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday, following a meeting with his Belgian, German and Dutch counterparts in the northern French city of Calais.
“Britain left Europe, but not the world. We need to work seriously on these questions… without being held hostage by domestic British politics,” Darmanin told reporters.
The UK itself is to blame for the flow of migrants, seeking to reach British shores and taking a daring voyage across the English Channel, the minister claimed. The migrants are “attracted by England” and its labor market in particular “which means you can work in England without any identification,” he added.
Britain must take its responsibility and limit its economic attractiveness.
Britain was ultimately left out of the Calais meeting, with Darmanin notifying his UK counterpart Priti Patel of canceling her invitation on Friday. The move came over an open letter published by the UK PM Boris Johnson, who urged Paris to simply take all the illegal migrants back. Paris has rejected any possibility of this happening.
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