Iran asks for U.N. committee meeting on U.S. ban on envoy

BY MICHELLE NICHOLS

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran requested on Monday a special meeting of a U.N. committee on the United States’ refusal to grant a visa to Tehran’s new U.N. ambassador appointee, but it has so far refrained from calling for any specific action, the committee’s chairman said.

The United States said on Friday it would not grant a visa to Hamid Abutalebi because of his links to the 1979-1981 Tehran hostage crisis when radical Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Abutalebi has said that he acted only as a translator.

Iran has asked for a meeting of the U.N. Committee on Relations with the Host Country, said Cyprus U.N. Ambassador Nicholas Emiliou, who chairs the 19-member group which deals with issues including visas, immigration and security.

“They have specified that they do not request any action on the part of the committee. They simply wish to brief us for the time being at least,” Emiliou said, adding that the committee would likely meet next week.

Officials, diplomats and academics could not recall past cases of the United States denying a U.N. ambassador’s visa.

Iranian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted by state news agency IRNA earlier on Monday as saying: “The official mechanisms for following up the complaint have been activated and we are going to follow up the case.”

President Barack Obama had come under strong pressure not to allow Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York. Former hostages raised objections to Abutalebi, and a normally divided Congress passed legislation that would ban him.

The White House is still reviewing the legislation, which would bar any U.N. representative deemed to be behind acts of terrorism or espionage against the United States. It would need Obama’s signature to become law.

Tehran has steadfastly stuck by its choice for U.N. ambassador, describing Abutalebi as a seasoned diplomat. He has served as ambassador to Italy, Belgium and Australia and is not known as a hardliner or for having staunchly anti-Western views.

Iran had said on Saturday it would take action against Washington at the United Nations.

Under a 1947 “headquarters agreement” the United States is generally required to allow access to the United Nations for foreign diplomats. But Washington says it can deny visas for diplomats for “security, terrorism, and foreign policy” reasons.

A 1947 Joint Resolution of Congress said nothing should be seen as “diminishing, abridging, or weakening the right of the United States to safeguard its own security and completely control the entrance of aliens” into any part of the United States aside from the U.N. headquarters.

PALESTINIAN PROBLEM

In 1988 Washington denied a visa for Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, who wanted to address a U.N. debate on Palestine. U.S. secretary of state at the time George Schultz said Arafat was denied entry because he condoned terrorist attacks on Americans.

U.N. lawyers reported to the Committee on Relations with the Host Country that the United States was obligated to grant the visa under the U.N.’s headquarters’ agreement.

The lawyers also said the headquarters agreement “does not contain a reservation of the right to bar the entry of those who represent, in the view of the host country, a threat to its security.”

The headquarters agreement says disputes should be referred to a tribunal of three arbitrators: one each chosen by the United Nations and United States and the third agreed by both or appointed by the International Court of Justice president.

This dispute mechanism was used in 1988 after the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 declared the PLO a terrorist group and outlawed it from operating in the United States. Under this law the United States tried to shut down the PLO U.N. mission.

The United Nations declared the bid a “clear violation” of the headquarters agreement and tried to start the dispute settlement process with the United States to resolve the issue.

The United States refused to take part in the arbitration with the United Nations, saying it would “not serve a useful purpose.” The United Nations then requested a legal advisory from the International Court of Justice, which found that Washington was obligated to enter into arbitration.

The PLO also took legal action in the United States and Washington only stopped its bid to shut down the PLO U.N. mission when a U.S. Federal Court judge ruled that the mission’s status was protected by the host country agreement.

(Additional reporting by Michelle Moghtader in Dubai; Editing by Yara Bayoumy, Louise Ireland and Cynthia Osterman)

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2014/04/15/Iran-asks-for-UN-committee-meeting-on-US-ban-on-envoy/

New coronavirus found in UAE camels

 

Last year camels were implicated as a possible source of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans. Now researchers say they have found a brand-new coronavirus in camels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Scientists from Hong Kong and the UAE found the new virus in 4.8% of fecal samples from 293 dromedary camels in the UAE, according to their report inEmerging Infectious Diseases. The new virus, like MERS-CoV, is classified as a member of the betacoronavirus group.

Furthermore, the researchers found that nearly all the camels also carried antibodies to MERS-CoV, suggesting that they had been exposed to it previously. That finding is consistent with several other recent studies that found antibodies to MERS-CoV or a closely related virus in dromedary camels in the Middle East.

The take-home message, the researchers say, is that viruses in camels bear close watching to understand the potential for transmission to humans, given the high level of contact between humans and camels.

In December researchers reported that dromedary camels on a farm in Qatar were infected with a MERS-CoV strain nearly identical to that found in two people associated with the farm, but they couldn’t determine whether the camels infected the humans or vice versa. Pointing out that few MERS patients have reported contact with camels, experts have said that the link between MERS-CoV in camels and humans has not been fully established.

Many new coronaviruses

The authors of the new study, led by Patrick C.Y. Woo, MD, of the University of Hong Kong, note that a number of new coronaviruses have been discovered in recent years, including the SARS coronavirus in 2003, two more new human strains in 2004 and 2005, and MERS-CoV. They said they have discovered 20 new animal CoVs in bats and birds.

Accordingly, they studied samples from camels in Dubai, UAE, to learn more about the evolution and dissemination of coronaviruses. The fecal and serum samples they used were leftover ones that had been submitted for pathogen screening or preventive health screening to the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai between January and July of 2013.

They tested 232 fecal samples from “teenage” and adult camels (at least 1 year old) and 61 from camel calves, plus 55 serum samples from teenage camels and 4 from adults. The serum samples came from dairy farm female camels and racing camels.

Fourteen (4.8%) of the fecal samples, including one from an adult and 13 from calves, tested positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the CoV RdRp gene. Ten of the 14 samples had been submitted to the lab for routine checking, while the other 4 were submitted because the camels had diarrhea.

The researchers subsequently analyzed the complete genomes of three isolates of the new virus, which they named dromedary camel coronavirus (DcCoV) UAE-HKU23.

New virus related to bovine coronavirus

They determined that the amino acid sequence of the virus’s spike protein is most similar to that of bovine coronavirus (BCoV) and sable antelope CoV. Also, the virus had a membrane protein similar in length to betacoronavirus lineage A1 members and was closely related to them. The lineage includes BCoV, sable antelope CoV, equine CoV, and several others, but not MERS-CoV.

By applying a “clock model” to the gene sequences, the authors estimated that DcCoV UAE-HKU23 diverged from BCoV about 46 years ago.

Attempts to grow the virus in cell cultures were unsuccessful. In other tests, the team found that 31 of 59 camel serum samples (52%) were positive for antibodies to the new virus’s nucleocapsid protein in a Western blot analysis.

The team used three different tests for antibodies to MERS-CoV and found that 97% to 98% of the serum samples (57 or 58 of 59) were positive, though there was no evidence of the virus itself.

Also, three samples that tested positive for antibodies to the new virus showed little sign of antibodies to other coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV, indicating minimal cross-reactivity.

The authors said the camel samples that contained DcCoV UAE-HKU23 did not all come from the same site, which, along with genetic evidence, indicated that they were not all part of a single outbreak. They also commented that the presence of diarrhea in four of the infected camels raises the question whether the virus causes illness in the animals.

No correlation between new virus and MERS-CoV

The authors say their findings suggest that there is no correlation between antibodies to MERS-CoV and antibodies to DcCoV UAE-HKU23. Because nearly all the serum samples contained MERS-CoV antibodies, a similar high prevalence of antibodies to the new virus would be expected if there were major serologic cross-reactivity between the two strains, they observe. But DcCoV UAE-HKU23 antibodies were found in only 52% of samples, indicating no correlation.

In their conclusion, the authors note that diseases such as brucellolosis can occasionally spread from camels to humans and that viruses from at least eight different families, aside from coronaviruses, have been known to infect camels.

“Because camels are closely associated with humans, continuous surveillance of viruses in this hardy group of animals is needed to understand the potential for virus emergence and transmission to humans,” they write.

In commenting on the findings, Marion Koopmans, DVM, PhD, head of virology at the Laboratory for Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, said, “This work provides full confirmation of prior studies suggesting presence of coronaviruses related to bovine coronavirus in these animals.”

Concerning the finding of MERS-CoV antibodies in the animals, she told CIDRAP News, “Finding a high proportion of camels [with] antibody positive to MERS CoV is now business as usual.”

She added that it’s important that the team showed that the MERS-CoV serology results cannot be explained by exposure to the novel virus.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/02/new-coronavirus-found-uae-camels

Revealed: India is home to nearly half of world’s 30 million modern-day slaves

 

There are close to 30 million slaves worldwide with India home to nearly half, a new report has claimed.

The Global Slavery Index 2013, the first of its kind, estimates there are 13.9 million people living as slaves in India.

China is a distant second with 2.9m slaves; followed by Pakistan with 2.1m; Nigeria 0.7m; and Ethiopia 0.6m.

But when the number of slaves as a proportion of the country’s population is considered, top is Mauritania, followed by Haiti, Pakistan, India and Nepal.

Hillary Clinton – Global Slavery Index

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeFB6sN3SAs

 

The index, compiled by the Walk Free Foundation, says modern slavery includes: debt bondage, forced marriage, sale or exploitation of children, human trafficking, forced labour and slavery itself.

The 10 countries with the lowest prevalence of slavery – among the 160 ranked – are all European, except New Zealand: Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ireland and Iceland.

The report reads: “The India country study suggests that while this involves the exploitation of some foreign nationals, by far the largest proportion of this problem is the exploitation of Indians citizens within India itself, particularly through debt bondage and bonded labour.

“The China country study suggests that this includes the forced labour of men, women and children in many parts of the economy, including domestic servitude and forced begging, the sexual exploitation of women and children, and forced marriage.”

Hilary Clinton, former US secretary of state, said: “I urge leaders around the world to view this Index as a call to action, and to stay focused on the work of responding to this crime, even if your country receives a positive rank. Now we know the Index isn’t perfect and can’t answer every question about modern slavery, but this is an important starting point.”

Gordon Brown, former UK prime minister, said: “Andrew Forrest and Walk Free’s pioneering work to expose the full scale and horror of child slavery is a landmark moment in the struggle for children’s rights. He has undertaken the vital work of revealing the full evidence that will allow us to campaign for children to move from exploitation into education, from oppression into opportunity, from slavery into school.

“With this evidence, we can now plan the end of child slavery in our generation. If anybody is in any doubt that slavery is a thing of the past you must look at the Global Slavery Index produced by the Walk Free Foundation and Andrew Forrest. It exposes the horror and injustice of millons of people condemned to slavery in the 21st century. It is the most powerful call to action, and that action must be heeded by the international community.”

Copyright © 2013 euronews

http://www.euronews.com/2013/10/17/india-china-and-pakistan-lead-global-slavery-index-/