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They said it: Leaders at the virtual UN, in their own words

Here, The Associated Press takes the opposite approach and spotlights some thoughts you might not have heard — the voices of leaders speaking at the first all-virtual U.N. General Assembly leaders meeting who might not have captured the headlines and the airtime on Saturday, the fifth day of the 2020 debate.

Liberty disputes reports about Falwell severance payment

Liberty University said it paid its recently resigned president, Jerry Falwell Jr., the two years' base salary owed under his employment contract Tuesday. The Lynchburg, Virginia-based Christian university issued a brief statement about the compensation that did not provide an exact figure but said previous “media reports regarding the size and terms" of Falwell's severance were incorrect.

North Korea on virus threat: 'Under safe and stable control'

Kim Song, the country's U.N. ambassador, said a tightly administered anti-pandemic effort in his nation had been working. “A series of state measures are now being taken to block the virus inflow into the country, and all people adhere strictly to anti-epidemic regulations while maintaining the highest alert,” he said. Until Tuesday, all speeches at the U.N. General Assembly over the past week were virtual, delivered by world leaders in prerecorded videos from their home nations.

Defying EU ultimatum, British MPs approve post-Brexit bill

British lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a bill to regulate the UK's internal market after Brexit, defying a looming EU ultimatum as the two sides entered a final week of tense talks.

Hezbollah leaders tell French president to change approach

The leader of the militant Hezbollah group said Tuesday they still welcome the French initiative to help Lebanon out of its crisis, but said Paris has to change its approach in dealing with local factions and not blame everyone for the failure of forming a new Cabinet. French President Emmanuel Macron has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a Cabinet made up of non-partisan specialists that can work on enacting urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a devastating economic and financial crisis. Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib resigned Saturday during a political impasse that came amid Lebanon’s worst economic and financial crisis in decades — made worse by a massive explosion in Beirut in early August that killed and wounded many and caused widespread damage.

Crowds out, masks in: Debating in the age of the coronavirus

Crowds and pageantry are out. Presidential debates are typically some of the most exciting nights of the campaign season, drawing a crowd of thousands of staffers, media and guests. Instead of the usual auditorium setting, the debate is being hosted by the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University in the 27,000-square-foot (2,500-square-meter) atrium of the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion on the clinic’s Health Education Campus.

Justice Ginsburg buried at Arlington in private ceremony

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried Tuesday in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, laid to rest beside her husband and near some of her former colleagues on the court. Washington last week honored the 87-year-old Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18, with two days where the public could view her casket at the top of the Supreme Court's steps and pay their respects. On Friday, the women's rights trailblazer and second woman to join the high court lay in state at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman to do so.

WHO to probe 'sexual exploitation' by aid workers in DR Congo

The health body's "robust" investigation will cover allegations against aid workers tackling Ebola.

Britain's trade relationship with China 'under threat' after MPs' Uighur genocide proposal

Britain’s trade relationship with China is under threat after MPs proposed Uighurs should be allowed to petition UK court for genocide ruling. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China which is campaigning to stop the human rights abuses of the Uighur community in China’s Xinjiang province, told the Daily Telegraph that a cross party group of MPs have joined forces to stop doing trade with countries accused of genocide. Sir Iain, the former Conservative Party leader, said the MPs had “proposed an amendment to the trade bill which states that if it is deemed that a country is practicing genocide then the trade arrangements with that country should not stand”. It is anticipated that the amendment to the trade bill, which was tabled at the weekend and adds the need for a high court judge to make a pre-determination on genocide, will be passed in the Lords. Sir Iain previously told this newspaper he was convinced that the Chinese government was “performing the systematic eradication of the Uighur people”. It comes after Tory MP Nus Ghani earlier this month launched an inquiry with the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (beis) exploring how it can look at the UK Uighur supply chain. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, also launched an inquiry into how best discourage private sector companies from contributing to human rights abuses of the Uighur people. Mr Tugendhat previously warned in The Telegraph that “the mass detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang” which he said “has horrifying echoes of the 1930s”. “We now have clear, undeniable evidence of the persecution of more than one million people in these so-called re-education camps, with credible reports of physical abuse, forced sterilisation, filthy living conditions and a state-led programme of indoctrination,” he said. China has come under scrutiny over its treatment of Uighur Muslims and claims of alleged forced-labour abuses in Xinjiang, where the United Nations cites credible reports as saying one million Muslims have been held in camps. China has repeatedly denied mistreating Uighurs and says the camps are vocational training centres that are needed to tackle extremism, accusing what it calls anti-China forces of smearing its Xinjiang policy. In July, Washington imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses against Uighurs under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to target human rights violators by freezing any US assets, banning U.S. travel and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them.

Zimbabwe: Elephants die from 'bacterial disease'

More than 30 elephants were found lying on their stomachs, according to wildlife officials.

Auschwitz director offers to serve time in place of 13-year-old Nigerian sentenced to 10 years for blasphemy

The director of the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has offered to serve time for a Nigerian child who was convicted of blasphemy and ordered to spend ten years in prison by a Sharia court . In an open letter, Piotr Cywinski asked Nigeria’s President to intervene and pardon 13-year-old Omar Farouq for the conviction. “As the director of the Auschwitz memorial, which commemorates the victims and preserves the remains of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camps, where children were imprisoned and murdered, I cannot remain indifferent to this disgraceful sentence for humanity,” he wrote. Omar Farouq was arrested earlier this year by religious police in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, after he had a ‘blasphemous’ conversation with an older man. His conviction by a religious court has provoked condemnation by the United Nations and global human rights groups. Mr Cywinski told The Telegraph that he felt he had to act when he heard about Omar. “When I heard about this story last week, I remembered that [Nigeria’s] President Buhari visited Auschwitz in 2018. So I thought that maybe a voice coming from this difficult place would have some effect on him... I have kids that age. "There are some times we have to stop our own silence and try to do something. It’s not enough to just like something on Facebook or retweet it.” Mr Cywinski added that since he sent the letter last week, no one from the government had responded yet. Kola Alapinni, Omar’s lawyer, told The Telegraph that the adolescent has been held in a prison for adults and not been allowed to see any legal representation. If Omar had been older, Mr Alapinni says, he would have been sentenced to death. At a federal level, Nigeria is a secular state. But 12 of the country’s northern Muslim-dominated states have a Sharia system running in parallel to the secular courts. These courts can only try Muslims and regularly serve out medieval-style punishments. Mr Alapinni, a graduate of the University of Essex and a secularist campaigner, says he will keep fighting Omar’s corner. “Section 10 of the constitution says Nigeria is a secular state. We are not Iran; we are no Saudi Arabia; we are not the Vatican. We are a multi-religious state with freedom of thought, expression and religion enshrined in the constitution,” he says. “This should not be happening.”

COVID-19 cases rising among US children as schools reopen

After preying heavily on the elderly in the spring, the coronavirus is increasingly infecting American children and teens in a trend authorities say appears fueled by school reopenings and the resumption of sports, playdates and other activities. Children of all ages now make up 10% of all U.S cases, up from 2% in April, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported Tuesday. About two times more teens were infected than younger children, the CDC report said.

Israeli PM to UN: Hezbollah storing missiles in Beirut

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of maintaining a "secret arms depot" in a residential neighborhood of Beirut, warning it could cause another tragic explosion in the Lebanese capital. Hezbollah denied the allegations and invited international and local media to immediately visit the site, where they found a small factory housing heavy machinery but no weapons. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu pointed to maps purportedly showing the missile depot's location next to a gas company and residential housing, not far from Beirut's international airport.

Nigeria COVID-19 Response: UNICEF Contributes Medical Supplies in collaboration with IHS Nigeria

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) received the delivery of 115,800 COVID-19 test kits to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. These supplies were funded by IHS Nigeria, the Nigerian subsidiary of IHS Towers.

Lawyer for Flynn says she updated Trump on status of case

A lawyer for former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn told a judge Tuesday that she recently updated President Donald Trump on the case and asked him not to issue a pardon for her client. The attorney, Sidney Powell, was initially reluctant to discuss her conversations with the president or the White House, saying she believed they were protected by executive privilege. Attorney General William Barr, who appointed a U.S. attorney from Missouri to investigate the handling of the case, moved in May to dismiss the case despite Flynn's own guilty plea.

Germany limits public gatherings in virus-affected areas

Germany has ordered new restrictions to contain a second wave of the coronavirus, but stopped far short of the sort of measures seen in the UK. Angela Merkel and regional leaders agreed not to impose a new lockdown or a blanket limit on gatherings like the UK’s “rule of six”. Instead public gatherings will be limited to 25, but only in areas where the rate of infection rises over government safety limits. And even in the worst affected areas, there will be no legal limit on how many people can meet in private homes. “The rising number of coronavirus infections is a cause for concern,” Angela Merkel told a press conference. “We want to act in a regionally specific, targeted manner. Another lockdown must be prevented at all costs. “Our priority is to protect the economy and keep schools open for children. When it comes to everything else, we shall have to see what we can manage.” Germany recorded its highest daily increase in infections since April on Saturday, with 2,507, but the infection rate remains far lower than in the UK or most other major European countries. “We got through the summer well, but difficult times lie ahead in the autumn and winter,” Mrs Merkel said. “We can meet this with the right measures. These will only succeed if citizens are willing to follow the rules so that the epidemic does not spread any further.” The new rules come after it was leaked to the German press that Mrs Merkel was seriously worried at the rising infection rate in Germany and had privately warned party colleagues that the country “could see 19,200 cases a day by Christmas”. But under Germany’s federal system the chancellor’s power to impose lockdowns and other restrictions is severely limited.

A creepy presidential debate ad shows a deepfake of Putin telling Americans they're ruining their own democracy

In an ad campaign from non-profit RepresentUs, deepfakes of Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin warn Americans that they're ruining their own democracy.

Stockpile pet food and plan emergency Brexit airlifts, animal charities tell Government

Britain must stockpile pet food and livestock feed and plan for airlifts of medical supplies to protect animals from Brexit chaos next year, leading charities will warn on Wednesday. The end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 could cause shortages of food for pets and livestock as well as other vital supplies, the 12 campaign groups said. Even if there is a trade deal, delays and queues are expected at key ports such as Dover. Disruption to medical supplies would not only be “potentially devastating” for individual animals but make it harder to “control disease outbreaks,” the 12 charities told Environment Secretary George Eustice in a letter exclusively obtained by the Telegraph. “We believe central and devolved governments need to make contingency plans for the stockpiling of veterinary medicines and animal feed,” the charities, who are part of the UK-EU animal welfare taskforce, said. “Central government should further explore the use of air freight [...] to mitigate risks associated with veterinary medicine availability issues,” the taskforce said, raising the prospect of emergency airlifts of supplies from the EU. Some government estimates for a no deal Brexit estimate queues of up to 7,000 lorries stretching into Kent. The animal welfare groups called for dedicated rest areas for animals along motorways, particularly the M20 in Kent, and at the ports themselves. The charities, which included the RSPCA and Animal Defenders International, said that the UK imports two thirds of its animal feed and feed ingredients from the EU. It imports all of its pet food from the EU, they said, or makes it with EU ingredients. They called for a communication campaign for pet owners to ensure they had enough food for their animals. The UK government and the governments of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland should build up reserves of farmed animal feed in case of supply chain disruption, they said. A minimum of four to 12 week’s supplies of medicines needed to be stockpiled, the charities said. The final scheduled round of Brexit trade negotiations began on Tuesday in Brussels amid cautious optimism that a deal could be struck by the October 15 EU Summit, if both sides compromise. Even if a trade deal is agreed, there will need to be more border checks than now because the UK will have left the Single Market and Customs Union. The change will be particularly pronounced in Northern Ireland, which will continue to be subject to EU animal health rules after the end of the transition period. That is necessary to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland but it means that Northern Irish cats, dogs and ferrets will have different pet passports to those on the British mainland. “Pet passports for cats, dogs and ferrets will be required as standard when crossing the Irish Sea,” the charities said in their letter before calling for updated travel advice for owners. The Telegraph understands that EU officials are in the process of designing the Northern Irish pet passport. It is expected to be blue and will not have any reference to the United Kingdom on it. British cats, dogs and ferrets will have to show a UK pet passport before travelling to Northern Ireland. That will be designed by British officials, if the EU lists the UK as a country where it is safe for pets to visit from.

The Latest: Kamala Harris previews Biden's focus for debate

Kamala Harris says her running mate, Joe Biden, will share his vision for tackling the coronavirus and rebuilding the nation’s economy during his presidential debate against President Donald Trump. The Democratic California senator said Tuesday during a digital fundraiser with artists that “Joe’s goal in the debate is to communicate directly with the American people.” Harris says the country is at a crossroads in more ways than one, from the pandemic and economic recession to a reckoning on racial injustice and climate change.

Armenians Fear Turkey Is Back to Finish Off the Genocide

MOSCOW—The fighting in a mountain enclave in the Caucasus escalated Tuesday when Turkish-backed forces shelled five villages including the capital of Stepanakert, according to Armenian officials.Skirmishes broke out on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the weekend and the official death toll is over 100 as a decades-old dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh or the Republic of Artsakh erupted into violence.Artsakh is an ethnic Armenian pocket that was once part of Azerbaijan’s territory but now hews closely to Armenia against the wishes of Turkey, which has lucrative oil and gas deals with Azerbaijan and a long-standing enmity with Armenia.Turkey Sends ISIS Warlord to Azerbaijan to Face Off Against Putin’s Armenian Allies“We fight not only with Azerbaijan, with Turkey and thousands of its mercenary soldiers from the Middle East,” Masis Mailyan, foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, told The Daily Beast in a phone interview on Tuesday. “This morning the attackers shelled an Armenian town of Vardenis. This is the continuation of the Turkish genocide against Armenian people. The genocide, that the U.S. Congress officially recognized in a resolution last year, affirming that the Turkey exterminated 1.5 million Armenians.”Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fueled the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but he blames mediators for failing to solve the territorial dispute since a ceasefire in 1994. “The United States, Russia and France have not been able to resolve the conflict for almost 30 years. On the contrary, they are doing everything they can to prolong the problem,” Erdogan said in half an hour speech on Tuesday. “Azerbaijan has already listened to you for 30 years! But whose lands are occupied? Azerbaijan’s!”Civilians, including women and children, were reported killed on both sides. Tanks burned, armed drones and helicopters were shot out of the sky. The Armenian defense ministry reported that a Turkish warplane took off from Ganja airbase in Azerbaijan and shot down an Armenian jet aircraft Su-25 on Tuesday.“Turkey has never expressed any regret for the massacre in 1915,” Mailyan said. “Ankara criticized the Western countries for recognizing the Armenian Genocide.”The foreign minister said there was a chance that major powers would be drawn into the growing conflict. “Azerbaijan and Turkey have a program called ‘Great Turan’: Erdogan aims to take control over the South Caucasus, which will weaken Russia’s geopolitical positions,” he said.While it’s already bad, the worry is the conflict could easily escalate. The fighting threatens to involve Turkey, a NATO country, on the side of Azerbaijan while Russia’s forces back Armenia. “If Armenia officially asks Russia for help, the Kremlin would have to deploy the army, in accordance with the Collective Security Treaty between the two countries,” Mailyan told The Daily Beast, suggesting that even those consumed by domestic politics in the U.S. need to focus to prevent an even more disastrous war.The nation of Armenia with 2.9 million at home and millions in a diaspora in the United States, France, Russia, and elsewhere, feels very much united. In the first hours of the war, Kim Kardashian Tweeted her support for breakaway Artsakh: “We are praying for brave men and women risking their lives to protect Artsakh and Armenia. The news is misleading, these are not ‘clashes,’” Kardashian, whose family fell victim to the Armenian genocide, warned.The breakaway region is roughly the size of Connecticut. It is backed by Armenia and its diaspora in the West: at least ten American states, including California, Michigan and Massachusetts, have passed bills recognizing the independence of Artsakh, the Armenian name for the region.Both Azerbaijan and Armenia declared states of emergency on Sunday, for the first time after an escalation four years ago. Erdogan accused Armenia of being “the biggest threat to regional peace,” demanding its capital Yerevan give Nagorno-Karabakh territories back to Azerbaijan.Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, discussed the conflict with his ally in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. While Turkey has almost brotherly relations with Azerbaijan, Orthodox Russia feels very close to Christian Armenia. There are Russian military bases on Armenian territory close to the borders with Turkey and Iran.While Turkey has an almost pathological hatred of one side in this dispute, Russia has tried to maintain good relations with both sides. It has strong business and political ties with Azerbaijan, a country that borders the often unstable Russian region of Dagestan. To keep Azerbaijan happy, Moscow sold weapons to Azerbaijan for $4 billion in 2016, a move that was widely criticized in Armenia.Last week Armenia joined Russia, China, Iran, and several other Kremlin allies taking part in military exercises called Caucasus 2020, which featured up to 80,000 soldiers.The violence which erupted over the weekend has been brewing for an age. Azeri opposition activists have been talking about the coming war for months.“Families, kids woke up to a real war on Sunday. We have thousands of refugees displaced from their homes, hiding in shelters,” Anahit Musheghyan, who lives in Yerevan, told The Daily Beast.None of the compromises Russia has suggested over the past two decades has worked. And peace talks failed in the midst of the pandemic, in July, after several clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijani border that killed 15 people.More than 100,000 Azeri activists joined the pro-war rallies in Baku, pushing Aliyev to take action. “There is something important to understand about this war: every single Azeri person, without any exclusion, agrees the war is necessary–the war is the only point President Ilham Aliyev gets right: we all want back the territories occupied by Armenians in 1994,” Azeri journalist, Khadija Ismailova, explained to The Daily Beast.Ismailova, a fearless critic of Aliyev’s authoritarian regime, has spent a year in prison on unjust charges, but when it comes to this attack, she sounds supportive. “I am not militaristic, but it is clear to me that we need to fight,” she said. “The only concern we have is that Vladimir Putin might call Aliyev and tell him to stop advancing. If our forces occupy just a few villages and stop, that would be a huge disappointment. Putin must be talking with Erdogan a lot at the moment, negotiating their issues in Syria,” Ismayilova suggested.The feeling in Yerevan is equally passionate. “Our country has mobilized 10,000 volunteer soldiers,” photographer Karen Mirzoyan told The Daily Beast on Monday. “As soon as our people heard about Azeri shells killing a grandmother with her granddaughter, many men in reserve joined the forces.”Armenians have controlled what is internationally regarded as Azerbaijani territory since 1994, so why did Azerbaijan choose this month to advance? Thomas De Waal, the author of Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, said he thought Aliyev was trying to take advantage of election season in Washington. “Azerbaijan thinks that currently the U.S. is preoccupied with the presidential elections,” he said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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Prime Minister co-chairs high-level meeting to address economic devastation caused by COVID-19 and announces new funding to fight the pandemic

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Andrew Holness of Jamaica, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened the second High-Level event on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.

Coronavirus lockdown costs South Africa millions of jobs

The loss of 2.2 million jobs is unprecedented since recording the figure began in 2008.

Crown prince becomes oil-rich Kuwait's new ruling emir

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Orthodox church petitions UN over Istanbul's Hagia Sophia

The Greek Orthodox Church of the United States said Tuesday it is petitioning United Nations experts to coerce Turkey into protecting Orthodox Christianity's cultural heritage following the Turkish government's conversion of Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said it was pressing U.N. special rapporteurs in the areas of cultural rights, minority rights, freedom of religion and beliefs to hold Turkey accountable “for its deliberate policies to erase the cultural heritage of Orthodox Christians.”

US 'outraged' by rocket attack that killed women, children

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it was outraged by a rocket attack a day earlier that killed Iraqi civilians and called on the government to take action amid an impending diplomatic crisis between Baghdad and Washington. The attack and subsequent condemnation come after the U.S. threatened to close its embassy in Baghdad unless Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's administration reigns in Iran-backed armed groups responsible for frequent rocket fire and roadside bomb attacks targeting the American presence in the country. “We are outraged by yesterday’s rocket attack in Baghdad that killed civilians, including a mother and her children,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Women's issues at UN: Still 'too low down on the agenda'

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly last week, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina noted a milestone: the 25th anniversary of the Beijing women's conference that produced a global roadmap for gender equality and a ringing rallying cry that became part of the event's official declaration: "Women's rights are human rights.” The international community has “come a long way to ensure gender equality” since then, Hasina said, but “we need to strengthen our resolve and mutual cooperation.” Hasina didn't really have to say more to show that there was still a long way to go.

MAS Holdings Doubles its Empowerment Commitment to the UN Foundation in the midst of COVID-19

MAS successfully achieved original commitment to the Universal Access Project of the UN Foundation (UNF), of providing health and well being, education and services to 10,000 employees ahead of the 2021 deadline. A group activity from the “Train the Trainer” programme on women’s health for MAS associates. A community awareness programme addressing the underlying causes of domestic and gender-based violence.Sri Lanka, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colombo, Sri Lanka – September 29, 2020: MAS Holdings, the largest and leading design-to-delivery apparel solutions provider in South Asia renewed its commitment today to empower more of its employees by extending its original undertaking to provide health and wellbeing education and services focusing on sexual and reproductive health; and awareness on gender-based violence, to its employees and the communities adjacent to their manufacturing locations.  Having surpassed the target of 10,000 beneficiaries since its commitment in June 2019, MAS doubled its commitment to reach 20,000 beneficiaries by the original 2021 timeline. The company, headquartered in Sri Lanka, formalized their new commitment at the virtual parallel event of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly co-hosted by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and the Universal Access Project of the UN Foundation (UNF). MAS Holdings was one of 11 trailblazing global companies that committed to improving the health and wellbeing of its workers and community members around the world in 2019 through the UNF’s Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Women’s Health and Empowerment Initiative. The company outlined bold, measurable and time-bound plans to empower its employees through highly focused programmes on women’s health, sexual and reproductive health and rights and on gender-based violence, anchored to its globally acclaimed hallmark women’s empowerment platform, ‘Women Go Beyond’ in alignment with SDGs 3 and 5, among others. A Legacy Anchored in Women’s EmpowermentWith women making up 70% of the company’s 99,000 global workforce, MAS Holdings identified a fundamental requirement to support and empower its female employees very early in its operation, before it was defined as a corporate responsibility. Stand-alone initiatives that helped women, soon started showing results and began to scale into larger, long-term programmes. MAS began to invest heavily in women’s career development, skill development and more importantly in their health and wellbeing, creating awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual health, nutrition, pre and post-natal care and issues surrounding gender-based violence. In 2003, all empowerment and gender equality initiatives came under the Women Go Beyond (WGB) banner that also gave the company a powerful platform to recognize and reward its women on their achievements, a powerful element that pushed WGB and MAS to the global limelight as a pioneer of ethical business practices; WGB has provided over 300,000 opportunities for its employees and their families since its inception, highlighting women’s empowerment as the foundation of economic stability in Sri Lanka and the region. Women who treated their jobs as transitory in nature found new meaning in their careers, discovering not only untapped intellectual capacities and skillsets, but also economic freedom, autonomy and self-confidence. Progress of Commitments in 2020While COVID-19 resulted in catastrophic economic and health impacts around the world, MAS was able to leverage its existing WGB framework to reach out to female employees and support them through multi-faceted programmes that also addressed possible escalations of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV) during pandemic-related lockdowns. MAS Holdings was able to enhance the quality of its existing health-related WGB programmes provided for all employees in 2019 while also introducing highly focused programmes on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), non-communicable diseases (NCD) and life skills through its 2019 commitment. In addition to the health and wellness programmes focusing on hygiene, nutrition, family planning, pre and post-natal care, that have been carried out over the last decade, MAS has partnered with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka to train in-house trainers to deliver workshops on sexual and reproductive health and rights and NCDs,. This enabled both male and female employees to share this comprehensive knowledge in their communities to create awareness. Another such new initiative focuses on equipping in-house counselors and human resources executives with ‘skills to better address cases of domestic violence and GBV, including an understanding of the legal framework surrounding GBV. A Legal Rights Awareness Programme conducted at an MAS facility in Bangladesh educated 2,800 women on domestic violence as a consequence of early marriage and provided legal aid for those affected. MAS’ social sustainability strategy is well aligned with its business strategy and is driven by its senior leadership. Dedicated teams across the Group work on identified focus areas and drive necessary interventions to address the many gaps in access, education and services faced by women across global locations.  Other notable programmes include the company’s Aloka Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative that saw the company partner with the Sri Lanka Cancer Society to conduct awareness sessions on breast cancer, symptom detection and self-examination. The programme educated 6,939 employees and trained 132 more employees on lump-detection, elevating company-wide benchmarks in health and wellbeing expertise. Additionally, a total number of 1,167 female employees of MAS graduated from the Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) programme launched by Gap Inc. nurturing their professional and leadership skills.. 2021 and Beyond“We are proud to announce the expansion of our commitment to the UNF’s Universal Access Project and its Private Sector Action for Women’s Health and Empowerment.,” Deputy General Manager of Women’s Empowerment, Advocacy and Code of Conduct, Thanuja Jayawardene said during the virtual event. “Gender equality is a core value for us as an organization and we have an expansive framework to drive this agenda, focusing on economic, social and personal empowerment. We see health, wellbeing and freedom from gender-based violence as basic requirements, to developing female leaders for our businesses and our communities. This is a journey and we have a long way to go, implementing meaningful change.” As MAS Holdings fast adapts and recovers in a post-COVID landscape, it lies tethered to its founding value of first and foremost being responsible for the safety, health and wellbeing of its employees. While the company adjusts to the new normal, it remains optimistic of achieving its new targets despite the obstacles and global industry turmoil, taking sustainable action to educate, encourage, empower and celebrate its women.   About MAS HoldingsHeadquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, MAS Holdings is one of the world’s most recognized design-to-delivery solutions providers in the realm of apparel and textile for over 30 years in operation. Today, the USD 2 billion enterprise is the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with 53 manufacturing facilities across 16 countries, and a seamlessly integrated innovation-driven supply chain powered by 99,000 employees around the world. Today MAS manages a more diverse portfolio of businesses across IT, brands, wearable tech, Femtech, medical apparel, start-ups and fabric parks worldwide. Visit www.masholdings.com for more details. About Universal Access Project:The Universal Access Project, a project of the United Nations Foundation, focuses on global sexual and reproductive health and rights and allows girls to stay in school, pursue jobs, and have children if and when they are ready. It also helps improve maternal and child health, decrease unintended pregnancies, lower HIV infection rates, and reduce poverty. It builds a healthier, more secure, and more prosperous world. The Universal Access Project also leads the Private Sector Action for Women’s Health and Empowerment initiative, which mobilizes corporate leadership on workplace women’s health, rights, and empowerment in global supply chains. Visit universalaccessproject.org for more details. About Private Sector Action for Workplace Women’s Health and Empowerment Initiative:The United Nations Foundation, together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK’s Department for International Development, and Merck for Mothers launched the initiative – Private Sector Action for Workplace Women’s Health and Empowerment - to work with companies with large global supply chains employing millions of women workers to take action to improve their health and wellbeing in order to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals while also generating business returns. Visit www.privatesectoractionforwomenshealth.com for more details.For further information please contact:Attachments * Picture-1 * Picture-2 CONTACT: Thanuja Jayawardena MAS Holdings 0094114796444 MASWomenGoBeyond@masholdings.com Niranjan Wijesekara MAS Holdings NiranjanW@masholdings.com Delosh Suares MAS Holdings +94773959635 DeloshS@masholdings.com

Death of Kuwait ruler Sheikh Sabah draws outpouring of grief

The death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the leader of Kuwait who earned a reputation as a seasoned diplomat and a rare ruler who could cross the region’s political and sectarian divides, touched off an outpouring of grief from the Arab world Tuesday. As news of his death broke, condolence messages streamed in from across the region and from Western countries with longstanding ties to Kuwait, including the U.S. and Britain. As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body of Arab Gulf states, Kuwait has often charted its own course, pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab states that continues to this day.

The Latest: Mali notable in its absence from UN meeting

A country missing from the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders is the West African nation of Mali, whose leadership is in mid-overhaul after a military coup last month. As late as last week, the United Nations still listed the deposed president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as an upcoming speaker.

Ukraine marks 79th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre

Ukraine on Tuesday marked the 79th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, one of the most infamous mass slaughters of World War II. Babi Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, is where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the Babi Yar monument on Tuesday and took part in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the tragedy.

Assange may end up at Colorado Supermax jail, UK court told

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would have to be “almost dying” to get out of arguably the most notorious prison in the United States if convicted of espionage charges and sent there, a court at London's Old Bailey heard Tuesday. Assange, who is fighting an extradition request from the U.S., would likely be sent to the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, if convicted, according to Maureen Baird, a former warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret American military documents a decade ago.

Trump's court pick meets senators before confirmation fight

President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett launched day one of private meetings Tuesday at the Capitol, drawing praise from GOP senators but opposition from Democrats objecting to her conservative views and fast-track confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “even more convinced” of Barrett after their brief meeting. Noting she is a working mother of seven children, he scoffed at Democratic objections that the judge would put Americans' access to health care at risk or turn back the clock on women's rights.

Emir of Kuwait dead at 91, royal court announces

Kuwait's ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died, his office said in a statement read out on state television on Tuesday. Sheikh Sabah, 91, had ruled the Gulf Arab oil producer and US ally since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years. His designated successor is his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "With the utmost sadness and grief for the Kuwaiti people, the Islamic and Arab world and people of friendly nations, the Emiri Diwan mourns the death of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait," his office said. Sheikh Sabah sought to balance relations with Kuwait's bigger neighbours - forging the closest ties with Saudi Arabia, rebuilding links with former occupier Iraq and keeping open dialogue with Iran. He tried to mediate in a Gulf dispute that saw Riyadh and its allies impose a boycott on Qatar. A succession is not expected to affect oil policy or foreign investment strategy through the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds. Oil policy is set by the country's Supreme Petroleum Council, which is appointed by the emir. The new emir's choice of crown prince and prime minister - who would be tasked with managing the government's often difficult relationship with parliament - will be watched closely, especially at a time when Kuwait's finances have been strained by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

How can I volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine study?

Enthusiasm is high: More than 400,000 people have signed a registry of possible volunteers that’s part of a vaccine network set up by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Initial studies include only a few dozen young, healthy volunteers, since this is the first chance to see if a shot causes a risky reaction in people. The focus is on comparing how people's immune systems react to different doses, as well as getting more safety data.

Kuwait ruler, longtime diplomat Sheikh Sabah, dies at age 91

Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nation’s top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts at pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day. “He represents the older generation of Gulf leaders who valued discretion and moderation and the importance of personal ties amongst fellow monarchs,” said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington who studies Kuwait.

Court to release grand jury record in Breonna Taylor case

Kentucky’s attorney general acknowledged that he never recommended homicide charges against any of the police officers conducting the drug raid that led to Breonna Taylor's death, and said he didn't object to a judge's order to publicly release the grand jury's deliberations. Amid outrage over the jury's decision last week to not charge any of the officers for Taylor's fatal shooting, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Monday that he didn't object to the public release of the proceedings or to any members of the panel speaking publicly about their experience. “We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented," Cameron said in a written statement.