Flooded mine at silver dollar city

In particular, the UN stressed that a commitment to cutting emissions is no longer an option, but an inevitable trend globally. In his opening remarks at the virtual summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the undeniable fact that the world is facing a dramatic emergency on climate, calling on countries to “declare a state of climate emergency” to promote effective actions towards containing global warming and preventing it from causing catastrophic consequences. The summit was held five years since the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted by more than 190 countries, creating an important turning point for the world to build a greener, cleaner and more sustainable future. However, according to a UN report released ahead of the conference, most of the current commitments to emission reduction are not strong enough to effectively respond to the rising global heat. Signatories to the Paris climate accord have pledged actions to limit global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial level, towards limiting temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, the UN report pointed out that even if countries implement their commitments to cutting emissions, it is still unlikely to help reverse the global temperature rise trend at a “catastrophic” level of 3 degrees Celsius in the 21 st century. This situation will lead to a much more serious crisis than the current COVID-19 pandemic. The warning of danger from the UN is quite comprehensible. After five years of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, many commitments to reduce emissions have been made, but have proved to be not strong and effective enough. Carbon pollution remains serious, with global temperatures hitting record highs in November, making it the hottest month in history. The Earth’s temperature rises has seen the emergence of unprecedented and extreme weather patterns across all regions with an increasing frequency. 2020 has …

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In his latest assessment of the global economic outlook, OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone said for the first time since the pandemic began, there is now hope for a brighter future, progress with vaccines and treatment have lifted expectations and uncertainty has receded. However, the OECD has cautioned that the recovery will be uneven across countries. Where vaccine are deployed in countries with effective test, track and isolate systems, economic performance will be relatively improved. Output in many other countries is projected to remain around 5% below pre-crisis expectations in 2022. So far, the global recovery has been supported by trillions of dollars pumped in by governments and central banks. The OECD has stressed that the money taps must be kept open, despite breakthroughs on the vaccine front. The recovery has been seen to be stronger and faster, because more and more activities have resumed. In Asia, manufacturing activities continued to recover steadily in November, with positive signs recorded in the Chinese economy. Manufacturing activities in China have accelerated the fastest in ten years, showing that the world's second-largest economy is slowly returning to pre-pandemic growth. Stable recovery of global demand also helped manufacturing activities in Japan move close to a stable level, while manufacturing in the Republic of Korea has also reached its fastest pace in nearly ten years. The world's number one economy has also witnessed a recovery, though still fragile. The US Federal Reserve (FED) affirmed that measures to support short-term funding of markets are helping increase the flow of credit in the US economy. Progress in the labour market and positive information on the development of vaccines against COVID-19 have helped create more impetus for economic recovery. The US Secretary of the Treasury assessed that the package of measures under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act worth US$2.2 trillion has helped …

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Vietnam begins COVID-19 vaccination on March 8 Vietnam launches its COVID-19 inoculation drive on March 8 morning, administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to medical workers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Duong province – the country’s biggest pandemic hotspot at present. The vaccination is conducted at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two medical centres in Hai Duong. As many as 100 staff members of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases are expected to receive the shots in the morning of March 8. The hospital is allocated 450 doses among the first batch of 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the country has received. In Hai Duong, 50 medical workers at Hai Duong city’s medical centre, and 30 others at Kim Thanh district’s medical centre will be the first in the province to be injected. The Ministry of Health has allocated the vaccine to 13 localities, along with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and 21 hospitals during the first phase. Among the localities, all having reported COVID-19 cases since the latest wave of outbreaks since January 27, the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is given 8,000 doses, Hai Duong CDC 32,000, and HCM City CDC 8,000. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security each receive 30,000 doses. At a meeting on March 6, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long stressed the need to ensure equality in vaccine access as suggested by the WHO, UNICEF and COVAC. The localities excluded in the first phase should continue to prepare for the inoculation, with training programmes, he said, adding that they would receive the vaccine after the next shipment arrives in Vietnam in March. The ministry will roll out the vaccination in all COVID-19 treatment hospitals, prioritising those involved in frontline work, and those who participate in the pandemic combat in the community like …

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