Our global lines: insights on multi-country matters

18 October 2024

One year ago the UN Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD announces the launch of its first-ever Data Dashboard compiling national reporting figures from 126 countries, which shows that land degradation is advancing at an astonishing rate across all regions. A number of instruments have been developed to involve countries in the goal of restoring one billion hectares by 2030, including the promotion of restoration flagships

17 September 2024

More than 39 million deaths from antibiotic-resistant infections are estimated to occur between now and 2050, suggests first global analysis published in The Lancet. Deaths among children under five years old will continue to decline, halving in 2050 compared to 2022 and there will be considerable differences globally, with a 72% increase in deaths among people 70 years and older in high-income countries compared to a 234% increase in North Africa and the Middle East.

24 August 2024

The World Health Organization on 14 August has declared mpox a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ two days after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had declared its first-ever public-health emergency in consequence of the mpox outbreak of the past couple of months. Concerns are rising about the confirmed cases of clade 1b, a new and potentially deadlier strain. On top of Africa’s Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, Sweden and Thailand have reported cases.

31 July 2024

Google is harnessing artificial intelligence to provide detailed fire
boundary monitoring through Search and Maps, as well as location-based
push notifications. The feature is expanding to 15 new countries:
Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Kenya,
Croatia, Cyprus, Montenegro, Monaco, Portugal, Rwanda, Slovenia and Turkey.

12 July 2024

The world would need 55% more copper mines to meet EV transition goals, study published by the International Energy Forum shows, adding that hybrid vehicles could present a more effective alternative to transition the global fleet. Experts underline the gap between the intentions to meet the global warming challenges and the reality of the materials that are going to be required: EV requires about 83 kg of the copper per car, according to the International Copper Association.

1 July 2024

The oldest shipwreck to be found in deep water was discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, marine archaeologists announced.The 3,300-year-old shipwreck contained hundreds of well-preserved jugs that transported wine, food oils, fruit and other products across the Mediterranean.Historians say the discovery is important because the ship was found at a depth of over a mile and so from land that its location provides clues to how ancient sailors navigated using the stars, rather than relying on a view of the shoreline.

5 May 2024

The World Athletics Federation will award $50.000 to each winner of a gold medal in the 48 specialties of athletics at the upcoming Paris Olympics: an international federation will thus award prize money to winners at the Olympics for the first time in the history of the Games.

8 April 2024

With over 3,5 million infections and 1.000 deaths, the American continent is likely to experience in 2024 the worst dengue fever epidemic in its history; 80% of the world's cases have been recorded on the continent, and the Pan American Health Organization showed that in the first three months of the year cases increased up 249% from 2023 and 354% from the average of the past five years. Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay are the most affected countries.

9 March 2024

Pacific Island countries account for 9 of the 10 countries in the world with the highest prevalence of obesity among women and men aged 20 years and over, a new analysis published in Lancet reports.
Pacific health leaders have long been aware of the growing obesity
epidemic, but despite their efforts, progress has not been fast enough.

22 February 2024

The World Health Organisation, in collaboration with Unicef, has intensified efforts across Africa to promote the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (Bfhi) and thus promote breastfeeding, with the aim of improving neonatal survival, reducing child morbidity and mortality and achieving sustainable development goals. Bfhi protects and supports breastfeeding and the mother-child bond by ensuring that maternity facilities adhere to the 'Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding'.

13 February 2024

International Condom Day is celebrated on 13 February each year, one day before Valentine's Day, on the initiative of the non-profit AIDS Healthcare Foundation to remind people to practice safety in intimacy with their partners. The aim is to recall the importance of using condoms, a safe, inexpensive and highly effective means of preventing the transmission of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies.

11 January 2024

Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the United States, Iranian state media reported, a move likely to stoke regional tensions.The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes.

29 December 2023

Half of container fleet usually passing through the Suez Canal - an average of 50 per day - is now avoiding the Red Sea route in consequence of a number of Houthis’ attacks. The diversion around Africa takes approximately 25% longer, with obvious impact on ship schedules, insurance costs and finally prices on consumer goods. Experts say the consequences are felt globally on supply chains.

21 December 2023

A 3266% increase in measles cases in Europe and Central Asia has been reported by UNICEF: over 30.000 diagnosis were confirmed between January and 5 December 2023, compared to 909 in 2022. The Fund has called for urgent public health measures due to the possible devastating effects. The highest infection rate was found in Kazakhstan with 69 cases per 100.000 population, followed by Kyrgyzstan and Romania.

30 November 2023

As of today 197lines.com features 100 lines for each and every one of the 197 recognized countries. 197lines team is proud of the achievement and grateful to our contributors, friends and associates around the world.

11 November 2023

Snapshots of the universe as no one has ever seen it have been captured by the first five scientific images of the Euclid Space Telescope, presented by the European Space Agency and already considered revolutionary, with myriads of unknown and distant galaxies discovered.
The images contain traces of the dark matter and energy that occupy 95% of the cosmos and that Euclid will help us learn about, thanks to a €1,4 billion mission involving 20 European countries, plus the United States with NASA, 300 research institutes and 80 companies, totalling 3.500 active people and 140 industrial contracts.

29 October 2023

On October 27th the United Nations General Assembly adopted a major resolution on the Gaza crisis, presented by Jordan on behalf of the Arab countries, calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”, with 121 nations in favour and 44 abstentions. 14 countries voted against: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, United States.

27 October 2023

The European Central Bank announced on 18 October the start of a "preparatory phase" for the creation of the digital euro, given the increasing dematerialisation of payments and cryptocurrencies. ECB President Christine Lagarde stated that "we need to prepare our currency for the future". The start of the preparatory phase, however, does not constitute a green light for the creation of the digital euro, as the decision will be taken by the ECB Governing Council only after the EU legislative process has been completed.

19 October 2023

The world may have crossed a tipping point that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research on publication Nature suggests.
The study is based on a data-driven model of technology and economics and finds that solar photovoltaics is likely to become the dominant power source before 2050 – even without support from more ambitious climate policies.
Four “barriers” could jeopardize this: creation of stable power grids, financing solar in developing economies, capacity of supply chains, political resistance from regions that would lose jobs.

1 May 2023

55 countries across 4 continents celebrate Labour Day today; the holiday was first established in Paris in 1889.

9 April 2023

Over 2,2 billion Christians worldwide are celebrating Easter either today 9 April or next Sunday 16 April.

22 March 2023

Ramadan formally began with sundown on 22 March and will end on Friday 21 April 2023. It is estimated that almost 2 billion Muslims worldwide have prepared for Ramadan, the fasting of which is recognized as one of the 5 pillars of Islam.

19 March 2023

The International Network for Agricultural and Rural Training has put online a map of agricultural training schools in Africa, available at reseau-far.com. The map makes it possible to identify agricultural training institutions thus facilitating training professionals and ensuring that students, teachers and researchers can find an institution near them that meets their aspirations.

5 March 2023

After more than ten years of negotiations, UN member states have reached an international agreement for the protection of the oceans: UN member states will commit to 30% of open ocean waters becoming protected areas by 2030. This agreement is considered particularly important because marine animals and plants have become increasingly vulnerable in recent decades due to the effects of climate change, but also due to overfishing, shipping, and pollution. With the agreement, states aim to protect and promote the recovery of endangered marine species through a series of policies and initiatives, such as limits on fishing, on areas where ships can transit and on exploration activities that can take place there, such as the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor. It also provides for the establishment of a conference (COP) that will meet periodically to discuss relevant issues.

23 February 2023

The European Commission has asked its employees to remove the Chinese social network application TikTok from their company and personal phones, a decision associated with the European Commission's cyber security measures. After the US federal government, the European Union has also raised its concerns about the security of the application; it is highly likely that it will also reach those holding positions in the Parliament and the Council shortly.

23 February 2023

An international team of 17 scientists may have succeeded in solving one of astrophysics' most difficult mysteries, without necessarily having to integrate existing models: black holes may contain a strange form of energy, vacuum energy, which accelerates the expansion of the universe. After analysing data spanning 9 billion years of cosmic evolution, scientists have arrived at this discovery that could revolutionise the whole of subject.

14 February 2023

As of today, clicking on the icon of the popular Internet Explorer browser no longer starts the programme. Born 28 years ago, it made internet browsing history.

14 February 2023

The African Union has decided to extend the Great Green Wall project to southern Africa, Bloomberg reports, quoting the AU coordinator of this initiative for ecological restoration and combating food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, Elvis Paul Tangem.

"Climate change, migration, lack of funds and conflicts have hampered efforts to plant trees in originally planned areas, but modern technologies and innovative financing mechanisms are opening up new possibilities in new areas," the official statement says. It would therefore be almost impossible today to continue planting trees and restoring degraded land in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Eritrea and northern Cameroon precisely because of insecurity, a reality of things that calls for reallocating funds to humanitarian assistance.

"We are now moving to areas less threatened by insecurity and less prone to conflict, including southern Africa. We realise that Madagascar, Angola, Namibia and South Africa have suffered severe drought and desertification in recent years. The Great Green Wall now extends to these countries".

28 January 2023

The gross domestic product of the African continent is expected to grow by 4% this year and 3,8% in 2024, according to forecasts by the United Nations in its new report 'World Economic Situation and Prospects Report 2023'.

19 January 2023

In 2022, trade between Africa and China reached a record $282 billion, an 11% year-on-year increase. The increase is also due to rising commodity prices (copper, crude oil, iron, cobalt). According to Chinese customs authorities, exports to Africa totalled $164,49 billion in the 12 months to December; imports from the continent increased at the same rate, reaching $117,51 billion in the same period. This represented the second consecutive year of growth after the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on trade in 2020.

16 January 2023

Companies from Austria, China, South Korea, France, Germany, Japan, India, Israel, Russia, Singapore, the USA, Taiwan and the Ukraine have secured supplies to enable the junta to develop an "arms industrial complex".
This was stated by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of international experts that called on foreign governments to intervene to stop the military industry in the country.

5 January 2023

Large numbers of doctors, nurses and health personnel are leaving Africa at an increasingly alarming rate, mainly in countries such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya, which have been hit in the last two years by losses of personnel who prefer to go to Europe where salaries are higher. There is talk of more than four thousand medical and nursing professionals emigrating from Zimbabwe in 2021 alone and fifty-seven thousand nurses emigrating from Nigeria in the last five years.

24 November 2022

The documentary “Kordon”, which highlights the stories of women helping Ukrainian refugees, will be shown in regions and cities bordering Ukraine that have played a vital role in helping those fleeing conflict
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24 November 2022

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Brazil have launched a partnership to cooperate on forest preservation, primarily by economically incentivising the countries that reduce deforestation through the UN’s REDD+ programme

15 November 2022

Total world population reached and surpassed 8 billion people today.