World News

Italy is set to decide whether to decriminalise cannabis in a referendum next year after Italian activists gathered half a million signatures, the threshold required by law to trigger a nationwide vote.

If the public votes to decriminalise the purchase, sale and cultivation of cannabis, it could set off a domino effect across Europe.

It has recently been announced that Jamaica's Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has been elected as president of the Pan American Health Organisation's 59th Directing Council.

One of the governing bodies which brings together the highest health authorities in the Americas to debate and analyse policies and set priorities for technical cooperation and collaboration among countries, in accepting the PAHO presidency, Dr Tufton said that the region has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has also sharpened inequalities.

In preparation for COP26, two information sessions were held today on the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

The Declaration, developed by a collaborative group of leading organizations, is an urgent call for all stakeholders to commit to a decade of climate action in tourism.

Qatar Airways is pleased to announce its participation on the Global Coalition for Sustainable Aviation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), becoming the first airline in the Middle East to join the global coalition, reaffirming its commitment to work together with the relevant industry stakeholders, such as manufacturers, academia, governments and non-government organisations towards aviation decarbonisation and promoting sustainable air transport.

The ICAO Global Coalition promotes sustainable international aviation, acting as a forum through which stakeholders can develop new ideas and accelerate innovative solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the source.

Foreign Affairs Ministers from across the Commonwealth met yesterday for the 21st annual Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM). The meeting was held virtually for the second year in a row due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The agenda of the meeting focused on the Commonwealth’s role in recovering from the global COVID-19 pandemic and building back better, including on health and vaccine equity, trade issues, and climate change, in particular the upcoming COP26 summit.

Leading regional and international agencies from the public and private sectors, as well as nongovernmental partners in academia, health and other interests, have come together to jointly host a high-level virtual conference on the future of Caribbean tourism. The day-long event will be held on Monday, 27 September in observance of the Word Tourism Day 2021.

Descendants of African slaves have said that they will change their surnames, after a Dutch city decided to make the procedure free of charge.

Utrecht council has decided to remove the €835 (£715) cost and bureaucracy to help people shake off their slave names and have the option to adopt one that recognises their African ancestry.

As President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the presidency has appealed to the Nigerian media to focus on issues, not Yoruba Nation and Biafra revolutionaries.

In a statement on Wednesday, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu said it was shocking to see Yoruba Nation advocates throw their lot in with Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at the start of UNGA on Tuesday.

Leading shared micromobility provider Superpedestrian will be offering 20% off all rides on its LINK e-scooters across European towns and cities in celebration of European Mobility Week (16-22 September).

Free 30-minute rides will also be offered in select locations on World Car Free Day (22 September).

More investments in innovations and knowledge are urgently needed to increase the ability of rural people to adapt to climate change and shocks, said Jyotsna Puri, a long-time advocate for climate change adaptation and evidence-based policy and big data, who today takes up the position of Associate Vice President of the Strategy and Knowledge Department at the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Justin Kareem Hawley was recently appointed as the first Ambassador of St Kitts and Nevis (SKN) to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a meeting that took place between Hawley and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, credentials were presented and Hawley was officially welcomed.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called for urgent action to ensure improved climate resilience of small states and promised to amplify the concerns of small and other vulnerable states around climate change at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow this November.

Interns completing the 2021 Caribbean Institute for Sustainable Island Living (CISIL) Summer Internship say they are grateful for the quality learning and hands on experiences now inspiring them for the future.

The young people began the programme at the Jessamine Eden Farms on July 12 focusing on plant science, soil science and apiculture.

Exposure to high levels of air pollution can make children obese and put them at greater risk of asthma, a new study has found. The study said obese children had a 79% greater chance of having asthma.

This association was highest seen in Delhi, which experiences hazardous air quality every year. And while there could be many causes for obesity in children, "ambient air pollution could be an important contributing factor", it said.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and Web Summit announced that RISE, "one of the world's most influential tech events", will return to Hong Kong in March 2022, as an in-person event. This highlights Hong Kong's thriving start-up economy, leading position in innovation and technology, as well as its status as The World's Meeting Place for business events to tap tremendous opportunities in the region.

RISE was launched in Hong Kong in 2015 and has already hosted five successful events, becoming Asia's largest tech event, according to CNBC.

As the Jamaican government requires vaccinations for students 12 and over in order to resume face-to-face classes and more adults get inoculated amid an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, it was confirmed that the country doesn’t have a compensation programme should someone get injured from the vaccine. The confirmation came as the overseer of the vaccination program for the Ministry of Health & Wellness Dr Melody Ennis said that, as of August 24, there were 303 notifications of adverse events related to the vaccine, up from 249 at the time of her last report on July 29.