Switzerland

GENEVA (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases reported globally dropped by 16% last week, marking a month-long decline in COVID-19 infections, according to figures from the World Health Organization.

01 March 2022; MEMO:The Palestinian Authority said on Monday that international double standards are the main reason for more injustice around the world, Wafa news agency has reported.

GENEVA (AP) — International sports bodies moved to further isolate Russia on Monday for its invasion of Ukraine and pushed Moscow closer to becoming a pariah on the playing field.

The International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events, including soccer’s World Cup.

The IOC said it was needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

GENEVA (AP) — The International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies Friday to cancel or move all events they plan to hold in Russia and Belarus, and stop using the countries’ flags and national anthems.

The request from the Olympic body came after UEFA moved the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to suburban Paris, and after the governing body of skiing and Formula One pulled upcoming races from Russia.

GENEVA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Now that the Beijing Winter Olympics is over, U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet must release her long-delayed report on alleged violations in China's Xinjiang region against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Ken Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, urged Bachelet to issue her office's findings before her March 7 speech to the main annual session of the U.N. Human Rights Council which opens next week.

GENEVA (AP) — An independent human rights expert working with the United Nations is criticizing China and Russia for allegedly supplying weapons used by Myanmar’s military against civilians since it seized power last year.

Tom Andrews, a special rapporteur working with the U.N. human rights office, urged countries to halt such sales. He also called on the U.N. Security Council, where China and Russia are permanent members, to hold an emergency meeting to discuss a possible ban on sales of arms used by Myanmar’s military against civilians.

18 Feb 2022; AA: Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, tested positive for COVID-19 on the day coronavirus restrictions were lifted in Switzerland, the government has confirmed.

Cassis, also foreign minister, tested positive following a PCR test on Wednesday afternoon, the government announced in a statement on Thursday.

GENEVA (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases globally fell by 19% in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.N. health agency said late Tuesday in its weekly report on the pandemic that just over 16 million new COVID-19 infections and about 75,000 deaths were reported worldwide last week.

GENEVA (AP) — It’s a widespread lament: Traditional newspapers, especially small local ones, and other media outlets have seen subscriptions dry up as international internet behemoths have swooped in on the market for advertisements that long helped daily, weekly and monthly publications survive.

In Switzerland, the government has laid out plans to help. Swiss voters get final say Sunday in what polls have suggested is becoming an increasingly tight contest.

GENEVA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - An International Labour Organization committee has expressed "deep concern" about China's policies in its far western region of Xinjiang, calling them discriminatory and asking Beijing to bring its employment practices into line with global standards.

The report on the region, home to China's minority Muslim Uyghurs, risks stoking geopolitical tensions between China and the United States at a sensitive time for Beijing as it hosts the Winter Olympics.