Follow the latest World Government Summit 2023 live coverage
Indonesian President Joko Widodo says the world is still narrowly segregated into country blocs that need to be broken down.
That countries with coronavirus vaccines dished them out to friends and allies before making them available to others was case in point, he told the World Government Summit in Dubai in a pre-recorded address.
Mr Widodo, the leader of one of the world's most populous nations with 270 million people, said the pandemic had put the spotlight on how many nations had been left behind.
We must never see again a situation where vaccines, medical equipment and medicine are associated with political blocs
Joko Widodo
“It is imperative for multilateralism to be strengthened in order to save and build the world,” he said.
“The problem we face cannot be compartmentalised.
“However, the fact is that the world is currently divided into blocs. This is a significant challenge that must be addressed by the world today.
“Strong division of blocs among superpowers must be stopped immediately.”
He said humanitarian issues should not be addressed based on global political blocs.
The pandemic shed light on how divided the world was, with poor countries not having enough access to vaccines as compared to others.
“We must never see again a situation where vaccines, medical equipment and medicine are associated with political blocs,” said Mr Widodo.
“If we are not able to avoid political blocs, we should at least dismiss this factor when it comes to humanitarian issues.”
“Inequalities among countries have made it difficult to deal with our common challenges. Financial, technological, human resources and industrial inequality have proved to be an impediment to dealing with global crises.
“Inequalities in focus and energy supply and manufacturing must also be reduced.”
He also touched on how Covid-19 taught the world an extraordinary lesson.
“Three years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, the world was powerless. Not only low and middle-income countries were struggling, but also high-income countries were left unprepared against the pandemic,” he said.
“We have learnt many lessons from the challenges of the past three years. First, there is no safe salvation; rather, there is shared safety. No one is truly safe until everyone is safe. Therefore, a shared safety agenda must be prioritised by all countries.”
Fixtures
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
The%C2%A0specs%20
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Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The%20specs
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