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☆ Global airlines see return to profitability in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Global airline industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh attends an interview with Reuters in Doha, Qatar, June 19, 2022. Airlines lost tens of billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but air travel has partially recovered and some airports have struggled to cope. DOWNSIDE RISKIATA believes global air traffic levels will return to pre-COVID or 2019 levels by 2024, led by the United States and with Asia-Pacific "notably lagging." If China does not loosen restrictions, airlines' profitability would be affected. Walsh said airlines had survived the worst of the downturns, though Europe's fragmented market remained an area to watch.

☆ Airlines to return to profitability in 2023 - IATA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Airlines lost tens of billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic but air travel has partially recovered and some airports have struggled to cope. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) now expects a net profit of $4.7 billion for the industry next year, with more than 4 billion passengers set to fly. For 2022, IATA narrowed its forecast for industry-wide losses to $6.9 billion from $9.7 billion. "That is a great achievement considering the scale of the financial and economic damage caused by government imposed pandemic restrictions," said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, commenting on the projected return to profit in 2023. IATA said that its forecast is based on a gradual reopening of China to international traffic and the easing of domestic zero-COVID restrictions.

☆ Airlines warn of higher fares from green transition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association, which includes most of the world's major airlines, called for swifter action in Europe to drive up scarce production of greener Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Air fares have already jumped this year as a result of higher prices for conventional fossil-based jet fuel. Environmental groups argue that air higher travel costs will help to rein in emissions by curbing growth in traffic. In July, the European Parliament backed rules on aviation fuel that set binding targets for the replacement of kerosene with less polluting sources, while extending the definition of what a green fuel could be. This year's U.S. Inflation Reduction Act includes significant subsidies to the SAF industry in the form of tax credits, but European industry leaders including the head of planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) have said the legislation is unfair.

☆ From Ukraine to Yemen, UN seeks record $51.5 bln for 'shockingly high' aid needs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The appeal represents a 25% increase on 2022 and is more than five times the amount sought a decade ago. "Humanitarian needs are shockingly high, as this year's extreme events are spilling into 2023," said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, citing the war in Ukraine and drought in the Horn of Africa. But donor funding is already under strain with the multiple crises, forcing aid workers to make tough decisions on priorities. Unlike in other parts of the U.N. where fees depend on countries' economic size, humanitarian funding is voluntary and relies overwhelmingly on Western donations.

☆ UN Iran expert concerned about death sentences for protesters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A U.N.-appointed independent expert on Iran voiced concern on Tuesday that the repression of protesters was intensifying, with authorities launching a "campaign" of sentencing them to death. "I'm afraid that the Iranian regime will react violently to the Human Rights Council resolution and this may trigger more violence and repression on their part," Javaid Rehman told Reuters, referring to a UN Human Rights Council vote to establish a probe into the crackdown last week. "Now (authorities) have started a campaign of sentencing (protesters) to death," he added, saying he expected more to be sentenced. The U.N. human rights office confirmed in an email that one of those indicted for "corruption on earth for publication of lies on a large scale" was famous Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, citing a judicial official. Its judiciary chief last month ordered judges to issue tough sentences for the "main elements of riots".

But a new U.S. law offering hefty subsidies to local manufacturers of green technology has given the company pause for thought. That is roughly four times what the German government is offering, he said, with cheaper energy prices in the United States on top. The act introduces tax credits related to investment in green technology, plus tax breaks for consumers buying an electric vehicle or other green product made in North America. German carmakers and suppliers, for which the United States is a main export market, are among its biggest victims. "If we don't do anything, a lot will emerge in the United States," said Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) Chief Executive Christian Bruch.

☆ WTO says trade growth likely to slow as demand weakens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

GENEVA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization said on Monday that its goods barometer had fallen below trend, indicating that trade growth was set to slow in the closing months of 2022 and into 2023. The Geneva-based body said its barometer fell to 96.2 from its previous reading of 100, reflecting "cooling demand for traded goods". Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jessie Pang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally. In most cases, dozens of people attended the protests, though a few drew more than 100, the tally showed. The protests on the mainland were triggered by a fire in China's Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who were trapped in their apartments. On Monday evening, dozens of protesters gathered in Hong Kong's Central business district, the scene of sometimes-violent anti-government demonstrations in 2019. BLAME, SLOGANSIt has been common in recent years for overseas Chinese students to rally in support of their government against its critics, but anti-government protests have been rare.

☆ UN rights boss says Russian strikes plunge millions into hardship
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief said on Thursday that Russian strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine since October had killed at least 77 civilians and were plunging millions of people into extreme hardship. Much of the country remained without heat or power after the most devastating Russian air strikes on its energy grid so far. Since early October, Russia has launched missiles roughly once a week in a bid to destroy the Ukrainian power grid. "Millions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes," said Volker Turk in a statement. The U.N.'s monitoring team has said that both Russia and Ukraine have tortured prisoners of war.

☆ Taliban's treatment of women may be crime against humanity: UN experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of U.N. experts said on Friday. The assessment by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other U.N. experts says the treatment of women and girls may amount to 'gender persecution' under the Rome Statute to which Afghanistan is a party. There was no immediate response from a Taliban spokesperson to a Reuters request for comment on the experts' assessment. The experts also cited as an example the arrest earlier this month of female activist Zarifa Yaqobi and four male colleagues. They say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

☆ UN committee urges China to free Xinjiang detainees, recommends reparations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A United Nations committee urged China on Thursday to release people held in detention facilities in its Xinjiang region and recommended that it provide victims with "remedies and reparation". China denies any rights abuses. The 18-member committee regularly monitors countries' compliance with a 1965 international convention on racial discrimination which China and some 180 other countries are party to. The committee said the "lack of improvement in the human rights situation in Xinjiang" spurred it to adopt the recommendations, known as a decision. The document also called for China to "undertake a full review of its legal framework governing national security, counter terrorism and minority rights in (Xinjiang)" to ensure compliance with the convention.

☆ UN rights chief: full-fledged crisis underway in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday made a strong appeal to Iranian authorities to stop their "unnecessary and disproportionate" use of force against protesters in Iran in a speech to the Human Rights Council on the ongoing crisis. The meeting is seen as a key test of the West's clout within the council following a thwarted attempt to create greater scrutiny of China's human rights record last month. Newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk gives a statement during a news conference at Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse"We are now in a full-fledged human rights crisis," High Commissioner of Human Rights Volker Turk said in his first address to the council since starting last month. Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.N. decides to set up investigation into Iran protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights body on Thursday decided by a comfortable margin to establish a new investigative mission to probe Iran's suppression of mass protests that have roiled the country since September. The motion passed with 25 in favour, six against and 16 abstentions. Activists cheered after the result was read out by the council president and some diplomats applauded. Tehran's representative at the Geneva meeting Khadijeh Karimi earlier accused Western states of using the rights council to target Iran, a move she called "appalling and disgraceful". Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Iran official says 50 police killed in protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Around 50 police have been killed in the protests shaking Iran since September, the deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, giving a first official death toll amid an intensified crackdown on Kurdish areas in recent days. U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday Iran faced a "full fledged human rights crisis" with 14,000 people arrested so far, including children. "Around 50 police officers were killed during the protests and hundreds were injured," said Iran's deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in an interview on Indian television. He gave no figure for the number of protesters killed but said the Interior Ministry had formed a panel to investigate the deaths. Iranian state media reported last month that 46 security forces had been killed but without citing officials.

☆ U.N. rights council votes to probe Iran's ongoing crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERSGENEVA/DUBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint an independent investigation into Iran's deadly repression of protests, passing the motion to cheers of activists amid an intensifying crackdown in Kurdish areas over recent days. Tehran's representative at the Geneva meeting Khadijeh Karimi earlier accused Western states of using the council to target Iran, a move she called "appalling and disgraceful". CRACKDOWNThe crackdown has been particularly intense in Kurdish areas, located in western Iran, with the U.N. rights monitor this week noting reports of 40 deaths there over the past week. Iranian authorities have arrested a number of soccer players for expressing their support for protests. Asked on Thursday about the unrest at home Iran national team striker Mehdi Taremi said they were in Qatar to play soccer.

☆ China fails to weaken Iran motion before UN rights body
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China tried but failed to pass an amendment to a motion on Iran before the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday that would have stripped out the main paragraph referring to a new investigative probe into Iran's suppression of mass protests. The last-minute amendment was rejected with 25 against, six in favour and 15 abstentions. China's envoy Jiang Yingfeng told the council that the motion led by Germany was "overwhelmingly critical" of Iran. Representatives from the dozens of countries backing the motion, including the United States and Britain, criticised the last-minute change and called for the 47-member Geneva council to vote it down. The U.S. ambassador for human rights Michele Taylor said she was "appalled" by China's last-minute revision.

☆ Iran situation 'critical' with more than 300 killed -UN rights chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that the situation in Iran was "critical", describing a hardening of the authorities' response to protests that have resulted in more than 300 deaths in the past two months. "The rising number of deaths from protests in Iran, including those of two children at the weekend, and the hardening of the response by security forces, underline the critical situation in the country," said a spokesperson for U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk at a Geneva news briefing. Later this week, the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva will hold a debate on the protests expected to be attended by diplomats as well as witnesses and victims. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that more than 300 people had been killed so far, including more than 40 children. Iranian state media said last month that more than 46 security forces, including police, had been killed in the protests.

☆ Swiss-based trust fund for frozen Afghan assets meets in Geneva
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The board of a Swiss-based trust fund managing some $3.5 billion in frozen assets seized after the Taliban took power last year is meeting in Geneva for the first time on Monday, a Swiss government spokesperson confirmed. The frozen central bank reserves were recently transferred from Washington into the 'Fund for the Afghan People' where U.S. officials say it will be shielded from the Taliban. The fund's statutes says its purpose is to "receive, protect, preserve and disburse assets for the benefit of the Afghan people". The $3.5 billion forms part of an original $7 billion being held in the United States following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, Anwar Ahady, a former Afghan central bank chief and former finance minister, and Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who remains on the DAB Supreme Council.

☆ Explainer: How the World Health Organization might fight future pandemics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A new pact is a priority for WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as his second five-year term at the head of the global health agency gets underway. It seeks to shore up the world's defences against new pathogens following the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 6.5 million people, according to the WHO. The global health agency itself is facing calls for reform after an independent panel described it as "underpowered" when COVID-19 struck, with limited ability to investigate outbreaks and coordinate containment measures. The WHO already has binding rules known as the International Health Regulations (2005) which set out countries' obligations where public health events have the potential to cross borders. Adopted after the 2002/3 SARS outbreak, these regulations are still seen as functional for regional epidemics like Ebola but inadequate for a global pandemic.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies could be made to disclose prices and deals agreed for any products they make to fight future pandemics, under new rules being drawn up by the World Health Organization and reviewed by Reuters. During the pandemic, many deals that governments made with pharmaceutical companies have been kept confidential, giving them little scope to hold drugmakers accountable. A spokesperson for the WHO said it was member states that were driving the current process towards a new agreement. "The process is open, transparent, and with the input from other stakeholders, including any interested stakeholders and public, able to submit comments at public consultations." The draft will be presented to them in full in a meeting on Friday, after being circulated earlier in the week.

☆ Both Russia and Ukraine tortured prisoners of war, UN says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.N.'s Ukraine-based monitoring team based its findings on interviews with more than 100 prisoners of war on each side of the conflict since April. The interviews with Ukrainian prisoners of war were conducted after their release, since Russia did not grant access to detention sites, it said. Matilda Bogner, head of the monitoring mission, told a Geneva press briefing that the "vast majority" of Ukrainian prisoners they interviewed held by Russian forces reported torture and ill-treatment. Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of POWs. Other Russian prisoners reported poor and humiliating conditions of transport and of being packed into trucks or vans naked, with their hands tied behind their backs.

LONDON/GENEVA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The chief scientist of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday she was leaving the agency, the first of a series of high-profile departures expected at the global health body as it prepares for a post-pandemic future. The exit of Soumya Swaminathan, an Indian pediatrician, announced on Twitter, comes as Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's second term as leader of the 74-year-old U.N. agency gets underway. Tedros, who began his second term in August, has given no reasons for any broader reshuffle, and some of the staff are retiring. Diplomats say that some donors have also privately suggested reforms to streamline Tedros' 18-member leadership team based in the Geneva headquarters. It is leading efforts to battle two other global health emergencies - monkeypox and polio - and seeking to advance an ambitious reform agenda to update global health rules.

☆ U.N. begins talks with Russia on Black Sea grains deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Talks between a Russian delegation and senior U.N. officials to address Moscow's grievances about the Black Sea grains export initiative began in Geneva on Friday, a U.N. spokesperson said. The negotiations come just eight days before the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July is due to be renewed. The accord has helped stave off a global food crisis by allowing the export of food and fertilisers from several of Ukraine's Black Sea ports. Moscow has indicated that it is prepared to quit the deal, which could expire on Nov. 19, if progress is not made on its concerns. It said it was responding to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that it blamed on Ukraine.

☆ Iranians protest nationwide, mark 'Bloody Friday'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Summary Prominent Sunni cleric criticises security forcesUnrest in minority areasGeneral tells clerics to restore calmDUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Iranians protested in the restive southeast on Friday to mark a Sept. 30 crackdown by security forces known as "Bloody Friday", as the country's clerical rulers battled nationwide unrest. The region is one of the country’s poorest and has been a hotbed of tension where Iranian security forces have been attacked by Baluch militants. Thirty-nine members of the security forces had also been killed, while nearly 15,100 people have been arrested, it said. They were accused of acts of sabotage, assaulting or killing members of the security forces or setting fire to public property. Several social media videos showed a gathering at Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery to honour Amir Mehdi Farrokhipour, a 17-year-old allegedly killed by security forces 40 days ago.

☆ COP27: WTO chief seeks to revive green trade talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Simon Jessop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The head of the World Trade Organization aims to revive negotiations on a global environmental trade deal, she told Reuters, as part of efforts to give the trade watchdog a bigger role in tackling climate change. But WTO discussions collapsed in 2016 after disagreements between China and Western countries about which products should be on the environmental list. "You need to have a friendly trade regime for renewables and other environmentally-friendly products," she said, noting tariffs for fossil fuel products are lower than for renewables in many countries. Exploratory discussions about a possible revival of a green trade deal have begun at the 164-member WTO body, although Okonjo-Iweala said some countries had expressed concerns, without naming them. She suggested beginning with a preliminary list of some 50 or 60 products that could be lengthened gradually.

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