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7,000 killed since January in fighting in DRC, prime minister says

7,000 killed since January in fighting in DRC, prime minister says

CNN25-02-2025

Some 7,000 people have died since January in fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), its prime minister told a high-level meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
Some 450,000 people are without shelter after 90 displacement camps were destroyed, Judith Suminwa Tuluka added.
The M23's advance is the gravest escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo. The rebel group's capture of swathes of the east and valuable mineral deposits has fanned fears of a wider war.
Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports M23 with arms and troops.
The prime minister urged the world to act and to impose 'dissuasive sanctions' amid mass displacements and summary executions.
'It is impossible to describe the screams and cries of millions of victims of this conflict,' she added.
In the opening remarks at the 58th UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN chief Antonio Guterres said that human rights around the world are being 'suffocated' and referred to horrifying human rights abuses in the DRC.
Since the start of the year, the DRC has faced back-to-back losses in North and South Kivu provinces, fueling criticism of the authorities' military strategy.
This story has been updated.

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Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo executed civilians, Human Rights Watch says
Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo executed civilians, Human Rights Watch says

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Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo executed civilians, Human Rights Watch says

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The GBA Healthcare Group Partners with FWD Hong Kong to Offer Comprehensive Health Management Services from Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment to Recovery
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The GBA Healthcare Group Partners with FWD Hong Kong to Offer Comprehensive Health Management Services from Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment to Recovery

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GBAssure utilizes GBAH's extensive network of clinics and hospitals, offering clients a full range of healthcare services, from traditional Chinese medicine to Western medicine, and from general practice to specialty care#. GBAssure spans Hong Kong, Macau, and six cities[1] in Mainland China within the Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). Within this network, clients and their designated family members[2] (with no limit on the number of individuals) will get access to family doctor services, available both in-person and via online consultation[3], that meet the same high-quality standards as those in Hong Kong. GBAssure also includes a range of additional services, including Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments[4], diagnostics imaging[4],[5], dental care[6], and colonoscopy screenings[7]. Additionally, clients will get convenient experiences such as Co-payment waiver for non-prescription online consultations[8], electronic medical record sharing, and online direct payment. This collaboration is the latest in a series of successful partnerships between GBAH and leading international insurers, such as AIA Hong Kong, Taiping Life Hong Kong, CTF Life, AXA Tianping Insurance, and Ping An Insurance Group. Leveraging its established medical network, GBAH is now expanding its services to FWD Hong Kong customers, providing a proactive, family-oriented approach to health management that covers everything from prevention, diagnosis and treatment to recovery. As cross-border exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong continue to increase, Mainland China's strong specialist capabilities, high medical efficiency, and cost-effective services have become increasingly recognized by Hong Kong and Macau residents. This has led to a surge in medical travel, with services such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, dental care, laboratory tests and diagnostic imaging, and specialist surgeries in high demand. However, challenges such as limited familiarity with Mainland medical institutions, lack of cross-border medical record sharing, and the inability to claim Hong Kong insurance for Mainland treatments remain. GBAH has focused on developing the healthcare market in the GBA. Supported by regional governments, GBAH has formed public-private partnerships with Grade 3A/ Grade 3 hospitals and community health centers in the GBA to promote a Hong Kong-style family doctor model. This model integrates a Hong Kong-style, family doctor-centered approach to general practice and specialty collaboration and cross-border medical coordination, offering patients a seamless healthcare experience. To date, GBAH has trained over 3,500 GOLDTM family doctors and nurses through its public-private collaborations. GBAH has also partnered with the 9 quality hospitals in Guangdong and Hong Kong, including CUHK Medical Centre, Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, Shenzhen Baoan People's Hospital, and Guangzhou First People's Hospital, and more. In addition, GBAH collaborates with more than 240 clinics across the GBA. Two partner hospitals have launched Hong Kong-Macau Drug and Medical Device Transit services. Meanwhile, GBAH has become one of the first enterprises authorized for cross-border personal information exchange within the GBA, offering a one-stop healthcare service system that includes general and specialist care, medicine, diagnostics testing and online direct payments. In 2024, GBAH, in collaboration with seven Grade 3A hospitals/Grade 3 hospitals, introduced specialized services such as Hong Kong-style health checkups, cross-border imaging, and painless gastrointestinal endoscopy. Patients in need of medical care can visit the Hong Kong-Macau Residents Healthcare Services Centers located within these partner hospitals will benefit from the convenience of same-day appointments and diagnostic services using equipment that meets Hong Kong standards. To reduce duplicate testing, cross-border bilingual imaging services will include a secondary review by Hong Kong doctors, with bilingual Chinese-English reports, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective and cross-border diagnostic services. Looking forward, GBAH plans to further expand its collaboration with insurance companies to launch a series of innovative health insurance products covering the GBA. GBAH aims to establish a cross-border healthcare network that connects community health centers, Grade 3A hospitals, and clinics across the region. In partnership with insurers, seeks to promote value-based health insurance solutions and implement a family doctor-centered, health-focused management model. This model will provide clients with comprehensive, full-cycle health management for their entire families, while also shifting insurance from a post-claim model to one that emphasizes proactive intervention. The goal is to reduce preventable health risks, improve overall public health, and create a more sustainable future for both the healthcare and insurance industries. About FWD Hong Kong FWD Hong Kong is part of the FWD Group, a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 30 million customers across 10 markets*. FWD Hong Kong is firmly positioned as a top five pan-Asian insurer by business scale in Hong Kong^. FWD Hong Kong has been assigned strong financial ratings by international agencies. It offers life and medical insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning. FWD's customer-led and digitally enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. * Includes BRI Life in Indonesia ^According to Provisional Statistics on Hong Kong Long Term Insurance Business - January to September 2024, Insurance Authority of Hong Kong, as well as FWD's own assessment based on market information, FWD ranks among the top five in both new business FYP ranking and new business case count. Calculated based on individual and group businesses. Pan-Asian insurers refer to multinational insurers currently having a well-established operation in the Asian market with multiple distribution channels. About The GBA Healthcare Group (GBAH) The GBA Healthcare Group ("GBAH") was established in 2014, a mission driven healthcare company founded in Hong Kong that has been pioneering private public partnerships for healthcare services with various regional governments in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). GBAH is a strategic, controlling healthcare investment of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited, the flagship private investment holding company of the Cheng Family in Hong Kong. Since its establishment, GBAH has delivered primary care training and accreditation to over 3,500 GOLDTM-certified family doctors and nurses in the GBA, jointly built over 240 GOLDTM private-public-partnership clinics in partnership with regional governments, and operated GOLDTM Hong Kong-Macau Residents Healthcare Services Centers within large-scale top-tier public hospitals, offering full-spectrum outpatient and inpatient care. Through such a vast service network, GBAH is creating innovative alternative payment models with health insurers, based on family medicine and preventive care practices, to implement value-based health insurance propositions. The goal of GBAH is to give everyone access to trusted and affordable healthcare, so that everyone can freely pursue their dreams without worrying about their health. Learn More: # GBAssure only covers consultation with General Practitioner and Chinese Medicine Practitioner, please refer to product brochure and FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) ("FWD Hong Kong") website for details: Customers have to bear all relevant cost incurred by receiving any specialist consultation. [1] Designated Mainland GBA Cities currently include Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan subject to FWD Hong Kong's revision to the list of cities from time to time without prior notice. [2] Designated family members include the Policy Owner's parents, children, spouse, and the spouse's parents. [3] Online consultation is not applicable to an Insured / the User aged 5 years or below (actual age) on the date of the general practitioner online consultation. During the online consultation, the Insured / User must be physically present in the same District (i.e. Hong Kong or any one of the Designated Mainland GBA Cities, as the case may be) as the location of the clinic at which the Physician provides the online consultation. [4] Referral from the Physician of GBAH's is required for Chinese Medicine Practitioner Face-to-face Consultation and Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Imaging. [5] Prescribed list is applicable for Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Imaging. FWD Hong Kong and GBAH reserve the right to amend the prescribed list from time to time without prior notice. No designated test from the customers is accepted. [6] Dental Care is subject to prevailing terms and conditions as specified in the coupon. [7] The colonoscopy coupon can be used by the Policy Owner or Insured/ User who is at 18 or above (actual age) at the time of receiving colonoscopy services and is subject to prevailing terms and conditions as specified in the coupon. [8] The Co-payment waiver is applicable to benefit item 1(b) General Practitioner Online Consultation with Medicine Delivery (listed in the Benefit Schedule of product brochure of GBAssure) if no prescribed medication is provided after the online consultation. The above product information does not contain full terms and conditions and is for reference only and is indicative of the key features of the product. For the geographical limitation of each benefit item available in the GBAssure Outpatient Plan, full and exact terms and conditions and the full list of exclusions of the product, please refer to its product brochure and FWD Hong Kong website at The above information about FWD Hong Kong and GBAssure Outpatient Plan are provided by FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) ("FWD Hong Kong") and for reference only and shall not be construed as the offer, sale or solicitation for the purchase of any insurance product outside Hong Kong. Different insurance products on the market have different coverage, terms and conditions, exclusions and product risks. In addition to understanding your own needs and affordability before purchasing insurance, you should also read the policy documents carefully to clearly understand the coverage and terms and choose a product that suits you. FWD Hong Kong does not make any express or implied explanations, representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information for any particular purpose. FWD Hong Kong is not responsible for any consequences arising from the use or reliance on this article and shall not bear any legal liability (including third party liability). Users should evaluate all the information contained in this article on their own or seek independent expert advice. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE The GBA Healthcare Group

UN assembly elects Germany's ex-foreign minister as next president after Russia demands secret vote
UN assembly elects Germany's ex-foreign minister as next president after Russia demands secret vote

The Hill

time7 hours ago

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UN assembly elects Germany's ex-foreign minister as next president after Russia demands secret vote

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