Author: Sheji Halima

Hearing

London, June 10, 2024 (dpa/NAN) More people are affected by hearing loss than previously thought, academics said as they estimated that 18 million people could be affected across the UK.

Previous estimates suggested a figure of 12 million, but researchers have re-evaluated the existing data on the number of deaf people, those with hearing loss, and tinnitus.

In a news paper, published in the International Journal of Audiology on Monday, experts used new calculations to estimate the number of people affected.

Academics from the University of Manchester and University of Nottingham used data from the latest census carried out in Scotland in 2022 and the remainder of the UK in 2021 instead of the 2011 census.

This is the first time the it included data on people with lower levels of hearing loss and also those who experience hearing loss in one ear.

The national hearing loss charity RNID welcomed the new estimates and said the data now “captures the true total number of adults with hearing loss in the UK.”

Prof. Kevin Munro, a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) senior investigator at the University of Manchester, said: “These data more accurately reflect the number of adults in the UK who have impaired hearing that will cause listening difficulty, especially in background noise.”

Co-author Prof. Michael Akeroyd, NIHR senior investigator from the University of Nottingham, said: “The way we define hearing loss puts us at odds with most other countries.

“By modernising these numbers, we align with the latest international practice. We hope it will encourage more people to realise how common hearing loss is.”

Commenting on the analysis, Victoria Boelman, director of insight and policy at RNID, said: “RNID welcomes this new insight as a step forward in our understanding of the UK’s community of people with hearing loss.

“The updated statistics now reflect and include the real-life experience of the 18 million people in the UK who have different and diverse experiences of deafness and hearing loss.

“By previously excluding people with milder hearing loss or hearing loss in a single ear, society had effectively dismissed millions of people’s experiences and not factored them into national conversations.”

Martin McLean, senior policy adviser at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “It’s good that it’s becoming more widely recognised that hearing loss of any level can significantly affect a person’s quality of life.

He said, for instance, children and young people with even mild or unilateral deafness can experience difficulties that often seriously affect their confidence, language development and educational prospects.

“We hope this new definition will lead to a greater acknowledgement of the impact that deafness of any level can have and lead to more action to support deaf people of all ages.

“We firmly believe that, with the right support, there’s no reason why a deaf child shouldn’t be able to lead a happy, fulfilled and productive life.”McLean said.(dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Election

Brussels, June 10, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Belgian King Philippe on Monday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, as is normal after elections in Belgium.

De Croo’s coalition government will stay on as a caretaker until a new coalition is formed, the prime minister said on the social media platform X.

The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) a conservative and Flemish separatist group came first in the elections, as they did in the last election in 2019.

However, the N-VA remained in opposition, while De Croo’s Flemish liberal Open VLD eventually formed a seven-party coalition.

Belgian politics is fractious and split almost entirely on linguistic lines between the Dutch-speaking Flemings and the French-speaking Walloons.

There is very little direct competition for votes between the parties of the two languages, which largely compete amongst themselves separately.

The final results on Monday shows the conservative N-VA with 24 of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, having lost one seat.

The more extreme Flemish-nationalist party Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) has 20  a gain of two as does the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), which gained four.

De Croo’s OpenVLD performed poorly, losing five of its 12 seats, leaving it with seven.

The MR was the only coalition partner to gain seats.

The Flemish social democratic Vooruit, also a coalition partner, held on to its 13 seats, though it made no net gain.

The remaining four parties in the outgoing coalition all suffered losses, especially the French speaking green party Ecolo, which lost 10 seats, leaving it with just three.

The Belgian federal election was held on the same day as the European Parliament election. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Cecilia Odey and Halima Sheji

Deal

Cairo, June 10, 2024 (dpa/NAN) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Middle Eastern governments to pressure Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement to accept U.S. President Joe Biden proposal to end the war in Gaza.

“My message to governments throughout the region and people throughout the region: If you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes,” he said shortly before leaving Egypt.

“If you want to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, press Hamas to say yes. If you want to get the hostages home, press Hamas to say yes,” Blinken added.

Countries in the region and around the world have endorsed the three-phase plan, while “the only party that has not said yes is Hamas,” Blinken said on Monday.

Blinken said that Israel has accepted Biden’s proposal, and they were critical in putting it forward.

However, there has not been clear public approval from the Israeli government.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s conditions for an end to the war had not changed. These included the total destruction of Hamas and the release of all the hostages.

Reaching a ceasefire deal also “opens the path to more durable security, calm, peace in Gaza and for that it is critical that we continue to work on plans for the day after,” Blinken added.

Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been mediating for months to achieve a ceasefire and exchange hostages kept by the militant group for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Blinken arrived in Cairo on Monday for a meeting with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi on the first leg of his Middle East tour aimed at brokering an end the ongoing Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.

Egypt’s presidency said in a statement that the two reviewed joint efforts to reach a ceasefire and exchange hostages, and have agreed to intensify efforts during the current stage.

Al-Sissi stressed the importance of concerted international efforts to remove obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid, ending the war and preventing the expansion of the conflict, the statement added.

After Egypt, Blinken plans to head to Israel. His tour is also expected to include Jordan and Qatar and to last until Wednesday.(dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Attack

Bern, June 10, 2024 (Reuters/NAN) Switzerland said that it registered an increase in cyber attacks and disinformation in the run-up to a summit this weekend that aims to create a pathway for peace in Ukraine.

The government said this on Monday.

According to the government, ninety states and organisations have registered to take part in the talks to be held at Lucerne from June 15  to 16, roughly half of them from South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Russia has not been invited, but the Swiss government said the talks aimed to “jointly define a roadmap’’ on how to involve both it and Ukraine in a future peace process.

Swiss President Viola Amherd told a press conference cyber attacks had increased in recent weeks and was asked how her government was addressing personal attacks against her in Russian media that have been publicised in Switzerland.

“We haven’t summoned the ambassador,” she said. “That’s how I wanted it, because the disinformation campaign is so extreme that one can see that little of it reflects reality.”

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said there was a clear “interest” in disrupting the talks, but avoided saying who was behind the attacks when asked if Russia was involved.

Switzerland has agreed to host the summit at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and has tried to drum up support for it among countries that have better relations with Moscow than leading Western powers.

Russia has dismissed the summit as a waste of time. It was not invited to participate, Switzerland says, because it signalled it had no interest in attending.

Cassis reiterated though, that Russia must be part of the peace process.

Its absence had encouraged powerful allies of Moscow such as China to say there is no point in peace talks unless both Russia and Ukraine take part.

That has dampened expectations for any kind of major breakthrough in Switzerland.

The summit at the Buergenstock resort is due to discuss areas of international concern, such as the need for nuclear and food security, freedom of navigation as well as humanitarian issues, such as prisoners of war exchanges, Cassis said.

Turkey and India will participate, Swiss officials said, though it was not clear at what level. Whether Brazil and South Africa would take part remained unclear.

Roughly half the countries taking part will be represented by heads of state or government, Switzerland said.

The summit is due to conclude with a final declaration, “ideally” one backed unanimously, Cassis said.

It also aims to set out what the next step would be in the peace process.

When asked who might succeed Switzerland in the next phase, Cassis said he could not give details.

He noted that efforts were underway for something “outside the western part of the world”.Doing so could boost inclusion of the “Global South and Arabian countries” in the process, he said.(dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Trade

St. Petersburg, June 7, 2024 (dpa/NAN) President Vladimir Putin says Russia remains a key partner in world trade even under increasing Western sanctions.

The country is developing its logistics and the geography of its international cooperation in spite of all the obstacles and what he called “illegitimate sanctions” imposed by the West.

Putin said this on Friday at the 27th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

He said that the country is among the leading economic nations ahead of Germany, while referring to data that takes purchasing power into account.

The West has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia as punishment for Putin’s war against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than two years.

According to Putin, around three quarters of foreign trade is now conducted with countries that are friendly to Russia.

He added that since the west imposed trade bans in many areas, Russia has orientated itself economically towards China in particular, but also towards India, Africa and Latin America.

In a speech to hundreds of guests, Putin called for the expansion of cooperation in technology transfer and announced interesting growth prospects for investors from abroad.

The Russian president also said that the development of a payment system independent of the United States would continue. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Worker

Sana’a, June 7, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have detained 12 United Nations employees in a crackdown in several areas of the war-wracked country, local sources close to the UN groups said on Friday.

The detentions were unleashed by the militia’s security and intelligence agencies earlier  on Thursday in the Houthi-controlled provinces of Sana’a, Hajah and Hodaidah, the sources added.

The male and female detainees include three employees of the UN High Commission, three from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The others detained were three working with other UN bodies, according to a statement attributed to local employees working with aid groups in the country.

In their statement, they called on the Houthis’ ruling self-styled Supreme Political Council to immediately release the detainees.

There has been no comment so far from the Houthis or the UN itself.

The Houthis have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition to support government forces when the Houthis advanced towards the government’s temporary seat of Aden.

The UN considers Yemen’s conflict a humanitarian disaster.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore ties after a rupture of seven years, a step that raised hopes for an end to the years of bloodshed in impoverished Yemen.

In recent months, the Houthis have been targeting ships bound for Israeli ports or those owned by Israeli companies in the Red and Arabian seas and the Indian Ocean, in what they say is retaliation for Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The militia also attacked U.S. and British ships off Yemen after the two countries began launching strikes on areas under the group’s control. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Bomb

Frankfurt, June 7, 2024 (dpa/NAN) A bomb dating back to World War II has been found on the grounds of Frankfurt Airport on Friday.

Police said that it is a phosphorus bomb that was discovered during construction work.

According to the police, incendiary bombs containing white phosphorus were used on a large scale during World War II.

The bomb was to be detonated in a controlled manner in the late afternoon or evening.

Meanwhile, a radius of around 1,000 metres around the site was cordoned off in advance.

Neither air traffic nor the roads around the airport have been affected so far, a spokesman said.

There have been no evacuations. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Zelensky: Europe no longer a continent of peace

Peace

Paris, June 7, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the French parliament that Europe was a continent at war and that Russia would not stop its aggression at the borders of his country.

“We live in a time when Europe is no longer a continent of peace, unfortunately,” Zelensky said in an address to French lawmakers on Friday.

“Again, Europe’s cities are being destroyed and villages are burned,” he said of Russia’s bombing of Ukraine. He also decried the abduction of Ukrainian children in occupied territories.

“This is against Ukraine now. But this can be aimed at other countries tomorrow, and we already see clearly the direction of the aggression the Baltic countries, Poland, the Balkans,” he said.

“The Russian regime does not see any limits and even Europe is no longer enough,” Zelensky said, pointing to Russian military actions in Syria and Moscow’s growing footprint in the Sahel region of Africa.

Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin was also trying to weaken countries through food and energy insecurity.

He said the world has been too afraid to forcefully respond to Putin. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji

Trafficking

Strasbourg, June 7, 2024 (dpa/NAN) Council of Europe experts are calling on Germany to take stronger measures against human trafficking, in a report released on Friday.

The report said that the German authorities should punish traffickers more effectively and provide victims with more help and higher compensation.

Prostitution is the area most affected by human trafficking, though the number of people who were exploited in labour relationships had increased, the report said, referring to extensive investigations in the meat industry and beverage logistics.

The Council of Europe saw some positive developments in Germany since the last evaluation, with significantly more people being convicted of human trafficking.

However, there is cause for concern that many sentences are suspended and court proceedings take an excessively long time.

The panel also criticised the low compensation payments to victims.

Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said that it is very difficult to detect human trafficking offences and they assume a high number of unreported cases.

Most of the victims come from Germany, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and are often promised legal, well-paid work, before being forced into prostitution or exploitative labour conditions, sometimes by force.

Mostly this is due to the victims’ lack of prospects and poverty and the demand for prostitution and cheap labour, the report said.

The Council of Europe is independent of the EU. Together with its Court of Justice, is committed to protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its 46 members include all 27 EU countries plus Britain and Turkey. (dpa/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Halima Sheji