FILE - Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, speaks at the Reaching The Last Mile Forum on Nov. 19, 2019, at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.(Jonathan Gibbons/Reaching the Last Mile Forum via AP Images)
The head of the World Health Organization says he will begin an independent evaluation of the U.N. health agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “at the earliest appropriate moment.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the pledge Monday after an independent oversight advisory body published its first interim report about the U.N. health agency’s response to COVID-19 from January to April.
The 11-page report raised questions such as whether WHO’s warning system for alerting the world to outbreaks is adequate, and suggested member states might need to “reassess” WHO’s role in providing travel advice to countries.
The advisory body’s review and recommendations appeared unlikely to appease the United States administration, which has been scathing in its criticism of WHO — in part over President Donald Trump’s allegation that it had criticized a U.S. travel ban that he ordered on people arriving from China, where the outbreak first appeared late last year.
Trump ordered a temporary suspension of funding for WHO from the United States — the health agency’s biggest single donor — pending a review of its early response. But the review panel, echoing comments from many countries, said such a review during the “heat of the response” could hurt WHO’s ability to respond to it.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, turned heads on Tuesday when it announced it will block some ad-targeting, specifically those of a political and religious nature.
This is one of the most direct moves the company has made in order to minimize ad-targeting by advertisers on its platforms. Hastie Afkhami, Head of Digital at S-3 Group, joins Cheddar News to discuss the impact of this move.
The COP26 summit in Scotland is in its final days, and the U.N. has just released a draft of an agreement for more than 200 world leaders to sign on Friday. The draft urges nations to set more aggressive goals in cutting emissions, while also calling for coal to be phased out. Chloe Demrovsky, President and CEO of Disaster Recovery Institute International, joins Cheddar News to discuss this agreement.
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Uber, alleging the ride-hailing company discriminates against customers with disabilities. The DOJ is arguing that its two-minute wait period before a cancellation fee is applied violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Stocks fell into the red on Wednesday after new data heightened fears over inflation. Vince Lorusso, Co-Founder and portfolio manager at Changebridge Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell where he says recent history suggests investors to buy the dips.
Iran is continuing to crack down on illicit bitcoin mining in the Islamic Republic after 227 mining rigs were seized. Businesses looking to run legal bitcoin mining operations have had to seek approval since 2019.
Tatenda Musapatike, Founder of the Voter Formation Project and former Political Ad Specialist at Facebook, joined Cheddar to discuss the outsized role social media plays in politics.
