diplomacy&development

The High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič on World Humanitarian Day 2020 “Ahead of World Humanitarian Day, we pay tribute to and champion all humanitarian workers saving lives and helping those less fortunate in times of crisis worldwide. Right now, during the coronavirus pandemic, humanitarians are working against all odds to deliver aid in even more difficult conditions. While we salute their courage and passion, regrettably in 2019, 125 humanitarian workers were killed, with 124 kidnapped. Saving lives should never cost lives. This is why it is essential that International Humanitarian Law is respected to protect humanitarian aid workers and civilians. We also call upon all parties to conflicts worldwide to abstain from targeting civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. Alarmingly, humanitarian needs today are on the rise, accelerated all the more by the coronavirus pandemic. With this in

Chinese Yuan, US Dollars and European Euro China will further facilitate cross-border use of the renminbi by promoting pilot programs to boost trade and investment, making it possible for more foreign central banks and monetary authorities to hold the currency as a reserve asset, according to a report from the nation's central bank. After a decade of the currency's internationalization, Chinese policymakers expect that the allocation of RMB assets by foreign investors will be further facilitated, and domestic financial market transactions by foreign investors will keep growing rapidly. Cross-border use of the RMB has sustained rapid progress and maintained robust growth this year, even amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely hit global trade, finance and the economy, analysts said, commenting on the report released late on Friday by the People's Bank of China. More than 70 central banks and monetary authorities worldwide have incorporated th

China's first patent for a COVID-19 vaccine has been granted by the National Intellectual Property Administration. The patent was jointly applied for by a research team with the Academy of Military Sciences and CanSino Biologics Inc., a Chinese high-tech biopharmaceutical company, said a report in People's Daily. The team led by Chen Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine under the academy, developed the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, with the modified defective adenovirus as the vector. In March, the vaccine became the first in China to be approved to enter clinical trials. According to the patent abstract, the vaccine shows good immunogenicity in both mouse and guinea pig models and can induce strong cellular and humoral immune response in a short period of time. It can be produced quickly on a large scale to cope with a COVID-19 outbreak. The vaccine has now finished phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials, which have verified its safety and immunogeni

C. Derek Campbell, CEO of Energy & Natural Resource Security, Inc.  C. Derek Campbell argues that successful security operations in support of Mozambique’s emerging LNG projects require a holistic approach that includes understanding information as a critical element affecting all audiences, and not just financial stakeholders. The scale and enormous economic potential of Mozambique’s LNG projects constitutes a seminal effort with national, regional and global implications and visibility. In fact, Total’s Mozambique LNG project alone costs about $20bn and represents Africa’s single largest foreign direct investment to date. Led by French major Total, it gathers a wide range of private and state-owned entities including Mitsui, Oil India, ONGC Videsh, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, PTT Exploration and Mozambique’s ENH. Given the stakes associated with this vital project, investors, government officials and all other stakeholders must be assured it will not suffer operationa

Robert Rosenthall, CEO of TRG USA and The Bullion Bank of Africa (BBA) The concept of the Bullion Bank of Africa (BBA) was developed by the Rosenthall Group and selective employees from Goldman Sachs, Worl d Bank, IMF, United  Nations and the African Union in 2017 and opened in Angola in 2017.    The need for a BBA was created to provide solutions for such problems as African correspondent banking,  International banking, commodities trading, stabilizing currencies,  establishing sovereign wealth fund, Currency exchange, banking clearing house, bebt reductions, economic development and projects funding.   The Bullion Bank of Africa is well designed to solve the above problems and generate wealth for generations to come leading to self sufficiency and financial independent for the 54 countries in Africa. Many of today's top 20 world banks and financial security institutions have bullion officers who leverage gold  and natural resources in the same manner as TRG's BBA.

UNESCO, in cooperation with the European Commission, Twitter, and the World Jewish Congress, is launching a series of easily accessible and comprehensive visual learning resources to raise awareness of the existence and consequences of conspiracy theories linked to the COVID-19 crisis. The resources also address how to recognize conspiracy theories, understand what drives them, refute them with facts and respond effectively to those who are spreading them. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a parallel pandemic of dangerous misinformation and rumours in the form of conspiracy theories, including far-fetched explanations of the origins of the virus, how it can be cured and who is to blame for its spread. Conspiracy theories undermine science, facts and trust in institutions, and pose an immediate threat to individuals and communities. There have always been conspiracy theories, but the pandemic underway has proved to be a particularly fertile ground for their spread. They are part

Today, the European Commission has reached a first agreement with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19 as well as to donate to lower and middle income countries or re-direct to other European countries.  This is following the positive steps regarding the conclusion of exploratory talks with Sanofi-GSK announced on 31 July and with Johnson & Johnson on 13 August. Once the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19, the Commission now has agreed the basis for a contractual framework for the purchase of 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with an option to purchase 100 million more, on behalf of EU Member States. The Commission continues discussing similar agreements with other vaccine manufacturers. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “The European Commission's intense negotiations continue to achieve results. Today's agreement is the first cornerstone in implemen