The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Paraguay

  • Israel has not cut ties with Paraguay– FM

    Israel said on Thursday the decision to close its Embassy in Paraguay does not mean it has broken off all ties to the South American Nation.

    The action amounts to a diplomatic downgrade and another Israeli embassy on the continent will take over the duties of the embassy in Asuncion, a source in Jerusalem said.

    Israel announced on Wednesday that it was shuttering its embassy after Paraguay reversed its nearly four-month old decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    The Foreign Ministry in Asuncion said the change of plan was due to concerns that the relocation to Jerusalem would have a negative impact on peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

    Read Also: Two dead, 68 ill from West Nile virus outbreak- Israel

    Luis Castiglioni, who became Paraguay’s foreign minister after President Mario Abdo Benitez was sworn into power in August.

    He said that the embassy’s decision had been taken unilaterally and without proper consultation.

    Paraguay announced in May it was following the United States and Guatemala in moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    The move by Washington was denounced by much of the world as prejudicing possible peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, who claimed the eastern half of Jerusalem for their future capital.

  • Brazil back on top of FIFA rankings

    Brazil dethroned arch-rivals Argentina and returned to the summit of football’s world rankings for the first time in almost seven years, the ruling body FIFA published on Thursday.

    World Cup qualifying wins over Uruguay and Paraguay put the resurgent Selecao top for the first time since the 2010 World Cup with 1,661 points in the latest list of FIFA.

    While Brazil have qualified as the first team for the 2018 tournament in Russia, Argentina are struggling and lost their last game in Bolivia as they slipped to second in the rankings with 1,603 points.

    Reigning world champions Germany remain third and Chile fourth, Colombia climbed two into fifth, France remain sixth.
    Belgium slipped two to seventh, Portugal and Spain stayed eighth and 10th while Switzerland rose from 11th to ninth.

    Poland were one of six teams to record highest ranking in 11th place and Macedonia were the biggest movers when they climbed 33 spots into 133rd.

     

  • Brazil qualifies for 2018 FIFA World Cup

    Brazil qualifies for 2018 FIFA World Cup

    Brazil have become the first side to seal their place at the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia next year.

    Their 3-0 win over Paraguay, along with defeats for Argentina and Uruguay, means they cannot finish lower than fourth in South American qualifying.

    Liverpool forward Philippe Coutinho, FC Barcelona striker Neymar and Real Madrid’s Marcelo scored Brazil’s goals.

    Neymar also missed a penalty kick as his side moved nine points clear of second-placed Colombia.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the victory was Brazil’s eighth straight win under coach Tite.

    Paraguay, meanwhile, find themselves five points off the top four with only four games remaining.

    Two-time World Cup winners Argentina face a battle to qualify for Russia with their 0-2 loss to Bolivia in La Paz leaving them fifth, a point behind Chile.

    They will have to do so without forward Lionel Messi.

    The FC Barcelona player has been banned for four international matches for directing “insulting words’’ at an assistant referee during last Thursday’s 1-0 win over Chile.

  • 3.2bn people at risk of malaria globally – WHO

    3.2bn people at risk of malaria globally – WHO

    The World Health Organisation (WHO), has said that about 3.2 billion people remained at risk to malaria attack globally.

     

    This is contained in a report entitled: “Eliminating Malaria”, released on Monday on World Malaria Day, observed every year on April 25.

     

    It stated that in 2015 alone, 214 million new cases of the disease were reported in 95 countries and no fewer than 400,000 people died of malaria.

     

    The “Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030”, approved by the World Health Assembly in 2015, calls for the elimination of local transmission of malaria in at least ten countries by 2020.

     

    WHO’s estimates showed that 21 countries were in a position to achieve this goal, including six countries in the African Region, where the burden of the disease is heaviest.

     

    It added that the efficacy of the tools that secured the gains against malaria in the early years of this century is now threatened.

     

    The WHO also said that mosquito resistance to insecticides used in nets and indoor residual spraying is growing.

     

    It also warned of parasite resistance to a component of one of the most powerful antimalarial medicines.

     

    It added that further progress against malaria will likely require new tools that do not exist today, and the further refining of new technologies.

     

    “Since the year 2000, it showed that malaria mortality rates have declined by 60 per cent globally.

     

    “It also showed that in the African Region, malaria mortality rates fell by 66 per cent among all age groups and by 71 per cent among children under five years.”

     

    The advances, it added, came through the use of core malaria control tools that have been widely deployed over the last decade:

     

    They are insecticide-treated bed-nets, indoor residual spraying, rapid diagnostic testing and artemisinin-based combination therapies.

     

    WHO, however said in 2015 for the first time, the European Medicines Agency issued a positive scientific opinion on a malaria vaccine.

     

    In 2015, it added, all countries in the European Region , for the first time, recorded zero indigenous cases of malaria, down from 90 000 cases in 1995.

     

    Outside this region, it added that eight countries reported zero cases of the disease in 2014: Argentina, Costa Rica, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Paraguay, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.

     

    Eight other countries, it added, tallied fewer than 100 indigenous malaria cases in 2014.

     

    It also added that 12 countries reported between 100 and 1000 indigenous malaria cases in 2014.

     

    WHO says vigorous leadership by the governments of affected countries is key.

     

    It said that governments must strengthen surveillance of cases to identify gaps in coverage and be prepared to take action based on the information received.

     

    It also said, as countries approach elimination, the ability to detect every infection becomes increasingly important.

     

    “Reaching the goals of the “Global Technical Strategy” will require a steep increase in global and domestic funding from 2.5 billion dollars to an estimated 8.7 billion dollars annually by 2030.

     

    “Through robust financing and political will, affected countries can speed progress towards malaria elimination and contribute to the broader development agenda as laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” the report said.

     

    NAN reports that the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030, launched in January, seeks to reduce the rate of new malaria cases, and malaria death rate by at least 90 per cent.

     

    Others are eliminate malaria in at least 35 countries and prevent a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria-free.

  • IAAF Presidency: Paraguay Singapore back Bubka

    IAAF Presidency: Paraguay Singapore back Bubka

    Sergey Bubka’s campaign to be the next President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gathered momentum on Friday, as four countries publicly promised to vote him in.

    The election is scheduled to hold in the Beijing, the Chinese capital.

    This is contained in the latest publication of an online portal, Insidethegames’.

    Sebastian Coe, his rival, however, also collected another endorsement as Ghana became the first African country to offer him their backing.

    The countries that publicly endorsed Bubkar are Paraguay, Peru, Singapore and Thailand. They all threw their support behind Bubka, the Ukraine’s 1988 Olympic pole vault champion.

    These countries added their names to Kazakhstan, which had said last week they would back him.

    Ghana, meanwhile, became the 23rd country to support Coe, Britain’s double Olympic 1,500 metres gold medalist.

    Bubka was always widely expected to earn the support of most of the 13 South American countries eligible to vote in the election in Beijing on Aug. 19.

    “We trust your notion of service and we want to collaborate in narrow form with you in the search of the construction of an athletics that reaches other levels in this new era,’’ Oscar Fernandez, President of the Peruvian Athletics Sport Federation, wrote in a letter to Bubka obtained by insidethegames

    Myrta Doldán, President of the Paraguayan Federation of athletics, also came out in support for Bubka.

    “As President of the Paraguayan Federation of Athletics I will give my full support and wish him every success next week in Beijing,’’ she said.

    Sergey Bubka has earned the backing of Singapore Athletics for his campaign to become the next President of the International Association of Athletics Federations following a series of visits to the country

    The backing for Bubka from the South American countries is no surprise but Coe will be disappointed at the decision of the Singapore Athletics not to support him.

    Singapore, as a Commonwealth country, would have been a prime target for the former London 2012 chairman.

    Singapore Athletics President Tang Weng Fei, however, has decided to endorse Bubka.

    “Both are pretty good candidates, and have developed excellent manifestos,” Tang, who is himself running for the position of treasurer at the IAAF elections, told The Straits Times.

    “Having read through both very thoroughly, SA will endorse Bubka as IAAF President,’’

    “This is a time when we are faced with serious challenges, and we believe Sergey has the commitment, diplomacy, and deep understanding of the sport to take it to new heights.’’

    Tang revealed he had been impressed by Bubka when he addressed the nine Southeast Asian countries during a visit to Singapore last December, a month before he officially announced he would be standing for the IAAF Presidency.

    “While he was here, there was no mention of votes,’’ Tang said, stressing, “It was a simple question-and-answer session.

    “He also has tailor-made programmes, and we believe he has the qualities to actually implement them.’’

    Thailand, another of those countries Bubka addressed, have also decided to support him.

    In another boost for Bubka’s campaign, the Monaco Athletics Federation revealed they have not promised Coe their vote, as had been claimed by Jonas Egilsson, President of the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe (AASSE).

    Egilsson, who is also head of the Iceland Athletic Federation, had claimed the six countries that make up the AASSE would vote for Coe en bloc.

    “No consultation was held within the AASSE regarding the choice of the future President of the IAAF, and this is not the purpose of this Association to host such consultations,’’ Bernard Fautrier, vice-president of the Monaco Athletics Federation, told insidethegames.

    “The Monaco Federation of Athletics will make, freely and independently, the choice of the President that it estimates will have the best position to lead the IAAF at the elections on Aug. 19 during the Congress in Beijing.’’

    Coe, however, remains the front-runner and favourite to succeed Lamine Diack, who is stepping down after 16 years, as IAAF President.

    He travelled to Beijing on Friday buoyed by the knowledge that he was guaranteed his first vote from Africa, a continent that is seen as a key battleground in the campaign.