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WHA approves raising Palestinian flag at WHO hq, offices

WHA approves raising Palestinian flag at WHO hq, offices

The Sun6 days ago

ENEVA: The World Health Assembly (WHA) on Monday voted in favour of allowing the flags of non-member observer states to be raised at the World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters and offices, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
The move clears the way for the Palestinian flag to be flown alongside those of WHO member states.
The decision was approved with 95 votes in favour, four against -- Israel, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany -- and 27 abstentions.
According to the resolution, the flags of non-member observer states at the UN will be placed after WHO member states, in alphabetical order.
It also states that this move does not imply membership status in the organisation.
Discussions focused on the Palestinian flag specifically, with UN General Assembly Resolution 70/15 cited as the legal basis.
The draft resolution was proposed by 20 countries, including Malaysia, Algeria, Indonesia, Turkiye, and several Arab and African states.

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Unmasking the vape industry: Malaysia's youths at risk
Unmasking the vape industry: Malaysia's youths at risk

The Sun

time2 hours ago

  • The Sun

Unmasking the vape industry: Malaysia's youths at risk

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If we do not act now, we risk turning a generation's health over to an industry that profits from addiction. This year, let us honour our youths, not just with awareness, but with action. Dr Wee Lei Hum is a professor at the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University. Comments: letters@

FBI: Man attacks Colorado crowd with firebombs, 6 people injured
FBI: Man attacks Colorado crowd with firebombs, 6 people injured

New Straits Times

time6 hours ago

  • New Straits Times

FBI: Man attacks Colorado crowd with firebombs, 6 people injured

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Medical NGO blames new US aid group for deadly Gaza chaos
Medical NGO blames new US aid group for deadly Gaza chaos

The Sun

time6 hours ago

  • The Sun

Medical NGO blames new US aid group for deadly Gaza chaos

RAFAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Sunday that people it treated at a Gaza aid site run by a new US-backed organisation reported being 'shot from all sides' by Israeli forces. The NGO, known by its French name MSF, blamed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's aid distribution system for chaos at the scene in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed 31 Palestinians at the site. Witnesses told AFP the Israeli military had opened fire. The GHF and Israeli authorities denied any such incident took place but MSF and other medics reported treating crowds of locals with gunshot wounds at the Nasser hospital in the nearby town of Khan Younis. 'Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground,' MSF said in a statement. MSF emergency coordinator Claire Manera in the statement called the GHF's system of aid delivery 'dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective'. 'It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented. Humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organisations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively.' MSF communications officer Nour Alsaqa in the statement reported hospital corridors filled with patients, mostly men, with 'visible gunshot wounds in their limbs'. MSF quoted one injured man, Mansour Sami Abdi, as describing people fighting over just five pallets of aid. 'They told us to take food -- then they fired from every direction,' he said. 'This isn't aid. It's a lie.' The Israeli military said an initial inquiry found its troops 'did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site'. A GHF spokesperson said: 'These fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas,' the Islamic militant group that Israel has vowed to destroy in Gaza.

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