World overshoots available natural resources
The world has exhausted the natural resources available for this year and is starting to exploit those of 2022. Yesterday was ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ – the day “when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year”. On the occasion of the Day of the Overexploitation of the Earth, the “100 Days of Possibility” campaign was launched in the US, with solutions to restore the balance, with 100 days left to COP26, the Glasgow UN conference on climate change.
World crisis in girls’ education – Malala
“The world is facing a crisis in girls’ education” with over 130 million girls out of school around the world, and “their future is worth fighting for.” This is the appeal launched by activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, on the occasion of the world summit on education in London. Speaking at the summit, the activist stressed the importance of investing in education, especially for girls who do not have opportunities “only because of their gender”. The summit aims to raise $5 billion to support education in some of the poorest countries in the world, creating 88 million additional school accesses and supporting the learning of 175 million children.
Biden tells states to offer $100 COVID-19 vaccine incentive
US President Joe Biden has called for states to offer $100 (€85) to the newly-vaccinated in an effort to address flagging jab rates amid virus surges. He also issued a strict new vaccine requirement for US federal workers, the nation’s largest workforce: to show proof of vaccination or be subjected to mandatory testing and masking. Just under half of the US is fully vaccinated, according to official data.
Defrocked US cardinal charged with assault and battery
Former American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been accused of sexually assaulting a boy who was 16 at the time. The abuse allegedly took place in the 1970s, during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. The former cardinal, one of the most prominent prelates of the Catholic Church in the US, was reduced to the lay state in 2019 for abuse of adults and minors. In 2018 he was removed from the public ministry and then resigned from the college of cardinals.
Australian army to enforce Sydney lockdown
Australian Army troops will door-knock homes of people who have tested positive to COVID-19 and those deemed to be close contacts to ensure they are isolating in a crackdown on Sydney hotspots after NSW reached a record number of new infections. Almost 200 children, aged nine or under, have testedpositive in Sydney in the past two weeks, as well as a rise in the number of infections among unvaccinated people in their 20s, with cases in young people tripling in the past two weeks.
Settlement agreed in Canadian wrong sperm lawsuit
Former patients and children of a Canadian fertility doctor who used his own or unknown sperm to impregnate patients, have been offered a C$13m (€8.8m) settlement agreement – the first-ever legal settlement of its kind. The class-action lawsuit currently includes 226 people. The doctor, Dr Barwin,is now in his 80s and has not practiced since 2014. Rebecca Dixon, 31, found out that her real father was Dr Barwin, whose clinic her parents had visited, after she developed a disease that nobody else in her family had. She and her parents launched the lawsuit in 2016.
Johnny Ventura dies of heart attack
Iconic Dominican singer merengue legend Johnny Ventura has died of a heart attack at the age of 81. Ventura, whose career spanned six decades, rose to fame after forming a merengue and salsa orchestra called “El Combo Show”. The band was considered one of the most significant groups in the musical history of the Caribbean nation.
