Be Informed

Explainer: Will COVID-19 vaccines protect us? Does efficacy equal effectiveness?

28th November 2020

The frontrunners in the COVID-19 vaccine race have emerged with different success rates for their shots in clinical trials, but what does that mean for the global fight against the pandemic? U.S. drugmakers Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna have each said their coronavirus vaccines have an efficacy rate of around 95% and a Russian project touted 92% efficacy for its Sputnik V vaccine. Britain's AstraZeneca announced an average efficacy rate of 70%, still well above the 50% rate that U.S. regula...

Malta: Services sector weighs GDP down in Q3

27th November 2020

The Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter stood at €3.2 billion, a decrease of 8.8 percent from the same period last year. Provisional estimates by the National Statistics Office estimate a difference of €312.6 million between 2019 and 2020. A sluggish services sector led to a drop of 7.0 percent in General Value Added, compared with Q3 2019. Services themselves slid by 9.1 percent year-on-year. Accommodation and food services activities fell the sharpest (-58.0%) followed by transportat...

Insights – Libya’s rival forces have stopped shooting, but they’re not pulling back

27th November 2020

SIRTE, Libya/TUNIS (Reuters) - In Libya's frontline city of Sirte, parts of which still lie in ruins, the commission set up to oversee warring rivals' recent ceasefire has put its name on a large downtown conference centre - an outward sign of its commitment to peace. So far the ceasefire is holding, and some elements of the truce have been implemented: flights between rival cities Tripoli and Benghazi have resumed and foreign fighters have left oil facilities - the keys to Libya's economy. ...

WHO sees progressive control of COVID-19 in 2021, cautions on Christmas

27th November 2020

The World Health Organization's top emergency expert said on Thursday the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine should allow the world to gain progressive control over the disease next year. "Life as we used to know it, I think that's very, very possible but we will have to continue with the hygiene, physical distancing. Vaccines do not equal zero COVID. Adding vaccines to our current measures will allow us to really crush the curve, avoid lockdowns and gain progressive control over the dis...

Adults, children must move more to stay fit in pandemic era – WHO

26th November 2020

All adults should do a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, even more vital for well-being and mental health in the COVID-19 era, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday in its first guidance in a decade. It recommended that children and adolescents have an average of one hour of daily physical exercise and limit time in front of electronic screens. And people of all ages must compensate for growing sedentary behaviour with physical activity to ward...

Malta: Public spending jumps by €394M in H1 2020

25th November 2020

The Government total expenditure rose to €2.7 billion in the first half of 2020, an increase of 16.9 percent compared with the same period last year. Figures by the National Statistics Office show a deficit of €895.6 million in the Consolidated Fund between January and June, up from €156.1 million last year. While expenditure surged, driven by a €228 million in recurrent expenditure, total revenue in the six months decreased from €2.2 billion in 2019 to €1.8 billion this year. Income Tax fell b...

Malta: Inflation rises from record low in September

24th November 2020

The Retail Price Index in October registered the second-lowest annual inflation rate since January 2018, but it was an increase from the previous month. According to figures by the National Statistics Office for October, the annual rate of inflation stood at 0.35 as measured by the Retail Price Index. Personal Care and Health products recorded an annual rate increase of 2.83 percent, the highest among the groupings followed by Food products (+1.81 percent) and Housing (+1.51%). On the other han...

Malta: Hotel nights down by two-thirds from last year

24th November 2020

Hotels saw a dip of 55.5 percent in guests in the third quarter this year compared with the same period in 2019. Figures by the National Statistics Office show a total 241,179 hotel visitors between July and September, the smallest Q3 numbers in the three years under review. One in two guests stayed at four-star hotels while another 46 percent chose accommodation at either five or three-star hotels. Another 23,265 guests stayed at alternative collective accommodation including hostels and guest...

China gives pledge on access for COVID origins probe – WHO

24th November 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) has had assurances from China that an international field trip to investigate the origins of the new coronavirus will be arranged as soon as possible, its top emergency expert said on Monday. Chinese researchers are carrying out epidemiological studies into early cases and conditions at a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. An international team of experts has been formed to carry out phase 2 studies. But the United States, and to a les...

America makes up its mind

24th November 2020

Georgia and North Carolina were the last states to be called in the US Presidential race, ten days after the election. Democratic nominee Joe Biden won 306 Electoral Votes in total, flipping five states along the way. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

Surge in greenhouse gases sustained despite COVID lockdowns – U.N.

23rd November 2020

Greenhouse gas concentrations climbed to a new record in 2019 and rose again this year despite an expected drop in emissions due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the World Meteorological Organization said on Monday, warning against complacency. Many scientists expect the biggest annual fall in carbon emissions in generations this year as measures to contain coronavirus have grounded planes, docked ships and kept commuters at home. However, the WMO described the projected 2020 drop as a "tiny blip" ...

WHO warns of COVID-19 third wave, says Europe failed to learn from Asia

23rd November 2020

The World Health Organization's special COVID-19 envoy David Nabarro told the Solothurner Zeitung in Switzerland that Europe was likely to see a third wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021 before a vaccine can be introduced. "They missed building up the necessary infrastructure during the summer months after they brought the first wave under the control," Nabarro said. "Now we have the second wave. If they don't build the necessary infrastructure, we'll have a third wave ...

Education for a changing society

23rd November 2020

by Dr. Michelle Attard Tonna It is often said that that education shapes social change, but it is also true that social change shapes education. In many ways, education is the space where one generation fades into the next. As the world spins faster and becomes more globalised, the education sector is transforming its methods, focus, and performance. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

Education without end

23rd November 2020

by Jesmond Saliba Industry 4.0 is still a realm in the making, but restless keynoters are already heralding the coming of Industry 5.0. Economies will change, societies will adapt, and education systems will fill in the blanks. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

Angela Merkel – The eternal chancellor

22nd November 2020

In power so long she has been dubbed Germany's "eternal chancellor", Angela Merkel marks 15 years at the helm of Europe's top economic power Sunday with her popularity and public trust scaling new heights as her remaining time in office ticks down. With the coronavirus raging around the world, the pandemic has played to her strengths as a crisis manager with a head for science-based solutions. Merkel, 66, has said she will step down as chancellor when her current mandate runs out in 2021...

Europe’s reaction was incomplete – WHO

22nd November 2020

A World Health Organization (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021, if governments repeat what he said was a failure to do what was needed to prevent the second wave of infections. "They missed building up the necessary infrastructure during the summer months, after they brought the first wave under the control," the WHO's David Nabarro said in an interview with Swiss newspapers. "Now we have the second wave. If they don't build t...

Russia stops U.N. blacklisting of Libya militia, leader

22nd November 2020

Russia on Friday stopped a U.N. Security Council committee from blacklisting a Libyan militia group and its leader for human rights abuses because it said it wanted to see more evidence first that they had killed civilians. The United States and Germany proposed that the council's 15-member Libya sanctions committee impose an asset freeze and travel ban on the al-Kaniyat militia and its leader Mohammed al-Kani. Such a move has to be agreed by consensus, but Russia s...

The CDPro journal – Education after the pandemic and digital disruption

22nd November 2020

The shortcomings of one generation are often blamed on education, but the hopefulness in a new generation are, similarly, pinned on education. https://issuu.com/corporatedispatch/docs/cdp_issue_14?fr=sMzYyZjIxMzUxNzU Since the creation of nationhood, the education process has always been seen as a social and economic determinant. This issue of CDpro investigates the state of education today as it runs over the double-bump of a pandemic and digital disruption. The leading ...

Malta- Business, consumer confidence remain dim – CBM Report

22nd November 2020

Economic growth prospects remain dim according to the latest Sentiment Indicator surveyed by the European Commission and published by the Central Bank of Malta, possibly reflecting the rise in COVID-19 infections and the announcement of additional containment measures in October. This survey largely reflected the CBM's own indicators, with the Business Conditions Index remaining unchanged when compared with the previous month. Although recent readings are higher than the low estimate for J...

The Conversation – Why women strike?

21st November 2020

During the COVID-19 emergency, contact with others for many of us is conducted through windows. We talk through them but also use them to display our hopes, emotions and frustrations. The windows on my own terraced street have become a gallery of rainbows, thank-yous to diverse workers, climate worries, Black Lives Matter fists and the left-over traces of Brexit. Recently, a pink and yellow paper lightning bolt struck in one of the windows. The sign, pasted onto the pane by two neighbou...

G20 to discuss the new pandemic infected affected ‘world’

21st November 2020

Leaders of the 20 biggest world economies (G20) will debate this weekend how to deal with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic that has caused a global recession and how to manage the recovery once the coronavirus is under control. High on the agenda are purchases and global distribution of vaccines, drugs and tests for low income countries that cannot afford such expenses themselves. The European Union will urge the G20 on Saturday to invest $4.5 billion to help. "The main theme will be t...

Turkey must stop provocations in eastern Mediterranean – Germany

21st November 2020

Turkey has to cease provocations in the eastern Mediterranean if it wants to avoid new discussions about European Union sanctions against Ankara at an EU summit in December, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday. "It is up to Turkey what decision will be taken at the EU summit in December," Maas said ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas speaks during a news conference following a meeting with his Palestine counterpart Riyad al...

Lockdowns in Europe avoidable, school closures not effective – WHO Europe

19th November 2020

Fresh lockdowns in Europe are avoidable, including through near-universal mask-wearing, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe office said on Thursday. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said that some health systems are being overwhelmed on the continent where more than 29,000 deaths were recorded in the past week alone. "Europe is once again the epicentre of the pandemic, together with the United States. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it will be a...

No firm evidence of food trade spreading coronavirus -FAO

18th November 2020

There is no significant evidence of coronavirus being spread through food trade and such reports "need to be minimised", Maximo Torero Cullen, chief economist of the United Nations food and agriculture agency, said on Wednesday. The FAO has previously said it does not see food production in supplier countries as a source of the novel coronavirus, he told the Global Grain conference. China says it has found the virus on the packaging of products from 20 countries, but foreign officials say...

U.N. warns on ‘full-scale’ humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ethiopia

18th November 2020

A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia, the United Nations refugee agency said, with more than 27,000 people now having fled heavy fighting to Sudan. The pace of the exodus, some 4,000 a day, may also indicate huge uprooting of people within the Tigray region, U.N. agencies said, adding that teams on the ground were overwhelmed. “People are coming out of Ethiopia really scared, afraid, with stories saying they have been fleeing heavy fighting and there’s no sign of the fight...

Western Sahara, an old conflict on the verge of explosion

15th November 2020

A dispute over Western Sahara threatens to result in a new round of conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement. Here are some facts about the territory, the dispute and the main players. THE TERRITORY The size of Britain, Western Sahara is sparsely populated with phosphate reserves and rich fishing grounds. Morocco staked a claim to the territory while it was under Spanish colonial rule. At the same time, Sahrawi people living there formed the Polisario F...

Why Trump’s lawsuits are unlikely to change the outcome of the election

14th November 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump's litigation campaign to discredit President-elect Joe Biden's victory is very unlikely to change the outcome of the election and is mostly about politics and fundraising, according to election law experts. Trump has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. He claims he won the Nov. 3 election and accused Democrats of trying to "steal" it from him. The Trump campaign has said it is fighting for a "free, fair, and fully transparent election in whic...

Microsoft’s President Brad Smith on the US Election

14th November 2020

In 2016, as the United States emerged from a close and contentious national election, we published a blog on the need to find new ways for the country to move forward together. As we reflected that year on the election of Donald Trump, we started with a straightforward proposition, saying: “Every president-elect deserves our congratulations, best wishes and support for the country as a whole. The peaceful transition of power has been an enduring and vital part of our democracy for over two c...

UN warns of humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia

12th November 2020

The United Nations agency for refugees said it was worried about a refugee emergency if more civilians are forced to flee fighting between federal troops and local forces in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, the agency’s representative in the country said on Thursday. Sudan has received more than 10,000 Ethiopian refugees since the fighting started and aid agencies say the situation in Tigray is getting dire. The UN is negotiating with both sides in the conflict for humanitarian cor...

WHO chief warns coronavirus is “not tired”, urges vigilance

12th November 2020

People are becoming weary of the coronavirus pandemic but should remain vigilant and continue to take precautions while the world awaits a vaccine, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. Eleven months into the pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people, derailed economies and turned daily lives upside down around the world, he said relying on promising but as-yet unproven vaccines was a risky bet. "We may be tired of COVID-19 but it is not ...

U.N. announces Libyan talks election breakthrough

12th November 2020

Political talks on Libya's future have reached agreement on holding elections within 18 months, the United Nations acting Libya envoy said on Wednesday, hailing a "breakthrough" in a peacemaking process that still faces great obstacles. "There's real momentum and that's what we need to focus on and encourage," envoy Stephanie Williams said at a news conference in Tunis, where 75 Libyan participants chosen by the United Nations have been meeting since Monday. UN acting envoy to Libya Steph...

WHO chief says welcomes efforts to strengthen the organization

11th November 2020

The World Health Organization chief opened a key meeting addressing the pandemic on Monday by welcoming efforts to strengthen the Geneva-based body through reform. "We welcome any and all efforts to strengthen this organization not for its own sake, but the sake of the people we serve," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He was addressing the annual ministerial session of WHO's 194 member states that resumed on Monday after a short meeting last May as he said that ...

Cathay is still overweight after layoffs

10th November 2020

by Sharon Lam via Reuters Breakingviews Cathay Pacific’s layoffs may not be the last. Hong Kong’s beleaguered airline is cutting around 8,500 jobs, or 24% of the group’s headcount, and shutting down sister brand Cathay Dragon. That’s less severe than some other carriers, although shareholders took it well. The cuts will moreover only slow the cash burn rate. With travel expected to remain depressed next year, more savings will need to be found. View and Download your free edition of CD Pr...

No GCSEs, A-Levels in Wales next Summer

10th November 2020

The Welsh educational authorities have announced that there will be no end of year exams for GCSE, A-level and AS-level students in the nation next year. The education minister, Kirsty Williams, said that in place of exams the government would work with schools and colleges to carry out teacher-managed assessments. The Guardian reports that educational authorities in Wales are planning a system where assessments would be set and marked externally but delivered within classrooms under tea...

Stored carbon could morph into investment gold

9th November 2020

by George Hay via Reuters Breakingviews If wind and solar power are zero-carbon energy’s golden boys, carbon capture is its problem child. Climate activists often see the process of removing the pollutant from fossil fuel emissions as an expensive and untested way for oil majors to stick to business as usual. That’s about to change, and in a way that will interest investors. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

Analysis – OPEC would miss ‘friend Trump’, wary of strains under Biden, sources say

8th November 2020

Key members of OPEC are wary that strains in the OPEC+ alliance could reemerge with Joe Biden as U.S. President, sources close to the organisation said, and would miss President Donald Trump who went from criticising the group to helping bring about a record oil output cut. Biden could modify U.S. diplomatic relations with three members of OPEC - de facto leader Saudi Arabia, and sanctioned countries Iran and Venezuela, as well as with key non-OPEC producer Russia. Russia is the leader of oi...

Global uncertainty could risk World War Three -UK military chief

8th November 2020

Current global uncertainty and anxiety amid the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic could risk another world war, the head of Britain's armed forces has warned. In an interview aired to coincide with Remembrance Sunday, the annual commemorations for those who have been killed and wounded in conflict, Nick Carter, Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff, said an escalation in regional tensions and errors of judgement could ultimately lead to widespread conflict. "I think we are...

Analysis – Will Trumpism outlast Trump?

8th November 2020

As he closed his campaign with a series of boisterous rallies, President Donald Trump told his cheering crowds they would prove all the experts wrong again - just as they had when he improbably won the U.S. presidency in 2016. “A great red wave is coming,” Trump said at an Oct. 31 rally in Pennsylvania, predicting a surge of Republican support would carry him to re-election. “There’s not a thing they can do about it.” Trump lost the White House, according to media outlets that called the ...

Analysis – A longtime fixture in U.S. politics, Biden finally wins elusive prize

8th November 2020

Joe Biden, a fixture in U.S. politics for a half century as a senator and vice president, completed a long climb to the political summit that included two previous failed presidential bids by defeating President Donald Trump. When he enters the White House on Jan. 20, Biden, at the age of 78, will be the oldest person ever to assume the office. The Democrat from Delaware played up his political experience during a bitter and divisive campaign, casting himself as a tested leader capable of...

Analysis – Kamala Harris breaks barriers as America’s next vice president

8th November 2020

Kamala Harris made history on Saturday with her election as Joe Biden’s vice president, becoming the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to win the second highest U.S. office. Harris, 56, is widely seen as an obvious candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in 2024 should Biden, who will be 78 at their inauguration on Jan. 20, decide not to seek a second term. She hasn’t weighed in publicly on such speculation. Edison Research and the major U.S. television netw...

Analysis – Biden’s winning strategy

8th November 2020

Three days before Election Day, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was leaving nothing to chance. Polls showed him with a steady, but small, lead in the battleground state of Michigan, a must-win to take the White House. At a socially distanced, drive-in rally on Belle Isle Park, near downtown Detroit, Motown legend Stevie Wonder performed. Then came the ultimate star power: Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, urged voters in the 78% African American city to cast...

Arabs doubt Biden will herald change in the Middle East

8th November 2020

Arab leaders congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory, but some people in the Middle East expressed cynicism over U.S. policy even if he pursues diplomacy rather than President Donald Trump's blunt approach to the region's myriad problems. “I was positive that Trump will not make it to a second term. He was too hostile almost towards everybody. He is (more) fit to be a mafia leader than a president of the United States," said Adel Salman, 40, a high school English teacher in Baghdad. ...

Google exhausts search for antitrust tolerance

8th November 2020

by Jennifer Saba and Gina Chon via Reuters Breakingviews Google has met its Microsoft moment. The U.S. Justice Department is suing the Alphabet-owned unit, slamming its dominance in online search. The presidential election in November may do little to help Google’s cause even if there is a change of the party in charge. The $1 trillion tech giant is in for a long fight. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

WTO leadership election in limbo

7th November 2020

The World Trade Organization has cancelled a meeting on Nov. 9 to decide on the appointment of Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the body's next director general after the United States rejected her as a candidate. Trade sources said they thought a factor in the delay was that there had been no indication the Trump administration - which will continue to govern trade policy in the weeks ahead irrespective of any U.S. election result - had switched its support to Okonjo-Iweala. A WTO docume...

International concern after Danish transmission of the virus between animals and humans

7th November 2020

The World Health Organization is looking at biosecurity around mink farms in countries across the world to prevent further “spillover events” after Denmark ordered a national mink cull because of an outbreak of coronavirus infections in the animals. Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, told a briefing in Geneva on Friday that transmission of the virus between animals and humans was “a concern”. But she added: “Mutations (in viruses) are normal. These type of changes ...

EP adopts proposals to regulate Artificial Intelligence

7th November 2020

The European Parliament has adopted proposals on how the EU can best regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to boost innovation, ethical standards, and trust in technology. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

Half of Human Trafficking Victims trafficked in their own State

6th November 2020

Nearly half of the human trafficking victims in the European Union are EU citizens (49%), and one third (34 %) of the victims were trafficked within their own EU Member State. The vast majority of trafficking victims are women and girls (72%). One in every four (22%) victims of trafficking is a child. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

World food price index rises in October for fifth month running -FAO

5th November 2020

World food prices rose for a fifth month running in October, fully recovering from the shock caused by the global coronavirus pandemic and with gains seen in most sectors, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 100.9 points last month, the highest since January, versus a slightly revised 97.8 in September. The Septem...

EU invests a further €144.5 million in world-class supercomputers for researchers and businesses

5th November 2020

The European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, which pools European resources to buy and deploy world-class supercomputers and technologies, co-signed a contract worth €144.5 million to acquire the LUMI supercomputer. View and Download your free edition of CD Pro here:

EU issues first social bond under SURE instrument

4th November 2020

The European Commission has issued a €17 billion inaugural social bond under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs and keep people in work. The issuing consisted of two bonds, with €10 billion due for repayment in October 2030 and €7 billion due for repayment in 2040. The EU executive reported very strong investor interest in this highly rated instrument, and the bonds were more than 13 times oversubscribed, resulting in favourable pricing terms. View and Download your free edition of ...