And in the Rest of the World…

AIR pollution threatens global health. More than 80 per cent of people live in cities that do not meet the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines – according to a May 12 update of its Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database of 3,000 cities in 103 countries.

Poorer countries have it worse. The database showed 98 per cent of cities in low- and middle-income countries exceed air quality limits. That percentage for high-income countries is 56 per cent.

Globally, air quality has worsened. WHO said that global air pollution levels from 2008 to 2013 increased by eight per cent. It added that as air quality declines, the health risks – respiratory diseases, stroke, lung cancer, heart diseases – increase.

The WHO said outdoor air pollution is the “greatest environmental risk to health – causing more than three million premature deaths” annually. The Guardian said this causes more deaths than malaria and HIV/Aids. Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health, said this is “wreaking havoc on human health”.

But there may be a silver lining, said WHO: “More than half of the monitored cities in high-income countries and more than one third in low- and middle-income countries reduced their air pollution levels by more than five per cent in five years.”

Use the map below to see this week’s reports on efforts to reduce air pollution. Then check out the selection of quotes relating to other world news.

.

World leaders of Nigeria and United Kingdom (UK)

“Some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries [are] coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world”

— Mr David Cameron, Prime Minister of United Kingdom, on world leaders and corruption

On Tuesday (May 10), Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on camera making this comment to the UK’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. This was ahead of a global anti-corruption summit he was hosting two days later, in which Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari attended the event.

Despite the initial start, a global plan to recover stolen assets was announced during the summit. According to the BBC, the plan was “hailed as the first of its kind, bringing together governments, business and other organisations.”

 

.

Facebook’s 1.23 billion monthly active users

“I believe it had a chilling effect on conservative news.”

— Anonymous former Facebook worker, on Facebook’s allegedly biased news selection process

On Monday (May 9), Gizmodo reported Facebook’s allegedly biased news selection process, as claimed by a former Facebook “news curator”. Other former curators, when approached by Gizmodo, said that human input – not just computer algorithms – helped select which news stories to feature.

The report said stories deemed important, but not trending, were “injected” into Facebook’s “trending module”. On Tuesday, Vice President of Search Tom Stocky admitted to some human input, but denied suppressing “stories of interest to conservatives” and prioritising “one news outlet over another”.

.

Catholics around the world

“One has to be honest. The pope did not say that he had any intention of introducing ordination for female deacons…”

— Mr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, on the Pope’s comments about female deacons

At an international meeting of nuns at the Vatican, on Thursday (May 12), one nun suggested this: Set up a commission to study whether women can become deacons. The Pope’s reply: “I think so. It would be good for the church to clarify this point. I agree…” (Deacons are just behind Priests in the Church hierarchy.)

A day later, however, a Vatican spokesman downplayed expectations of having female deacons in the Church. The Church has not given details about when the commission would be held or what it would do.

.

Brazilian lawmakers

“I never imagined that it would be necessary to fight once again against a coup in this country… This is a tragic hour for our country.”

— Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian President, on her suspension and how she had fought against Brazil’s military dictatorship during her youth

On Thursday (May 12), the Brazilian Senate voted 55-22 to put Rousseff on trial, She is charged with disguising the size of the budget deficit in the period leading up to the 2014 elections. Rousseff had requested for an injunction to halt the vote, but the Supreme Court denied it. On trial, Rousseff was forced to step down. Vice President Michel Temer became interim President. He has a new cabinet in place and called for the country to rally together.

.

Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party

“…the judge doesn’t see our security concerns.”

— Mr Rickey Steinberg, owner of Munich a pub, on the ruling against him

Mr Steinberg owns a beer hall; it was used by Hitler to make his first political speech in 1919. On Thursday (May 12), a Munich court ordered Mr Steinberg to allow the right-wing AfD party to use his beer hall for an address by their leader, Ms Frauke Petry. At the start of this month, AfD party announced plans to ban minarets and the burqa. Left-wing supporters strongly oppose this. Mr Sternberg is afraid that AfD’s event may draw protests from left-wing demonstrators.

.

Featured image Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth – Blue Marble 2012 by Flickr user NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. CC BY 2.0. 

If you like this article, Like the Middle Ground‘s Facebook Page as well!

For breaking news, you can talk to us via email.

The post And in the Rest of the World… appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- The Middle Ground