International
Miguel Ángel Oliver: The EFE Agency is an antidote against racism
The president of the EFE Agency, Miguel Ángel Oliver, said on Tuesday that the EFE Agency is “an antidote against racism” during the presentation of the New Urgent Style Manual at the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute of Rabat.
“EFE, through the new book, is an antidote against racism. When immigrants are rejected for ethnic or social reasons, it is simply racism,” Oliver stressed when closing a round table entitled “The debate on immigration in the media: when the story kills the data.”
Oliver recalled that journalists have the duty to tell the stories of emigrants and to fight that hate speech against these people: “Put names to the drama, faces and voices,” he insisted.
He stressed that there are media that work against this hate speech. In this sense, he pointed out that media such as EFE and RTVE “are an example of responsible treatment of migration information.”
It is important to humanize the stories of migrants
On this issue, the Moroccan and Spanish journalists who participated in the round table agreed on the need to humanize the stories of migrants, give them a voice without entering into controversy, and avoid degrading language.
During the debate, the speakers stressed the need not to neglect the personal stories of each migrant, and not to limit themselves to providing figures of people who tried to cross into Europe.
“Journalists must be on the side of the marginalized who will never make it to the news. The journalist has to be critical of governments. Behind thousands of people crossing, you have to spend time telling the story of Pepe, Fátima…”, said Ana Jiménez, TVE correspondent in Morocco.
The Spanish journalist stressed that the data is forgotten but the personal stories or shocking images, such as that of Luna hugging the migrant Abdou, who went viral during the massive entry of emigrants into the Spanish city of Ceuta in May 2021, reach the consciousness of the viewers.
The EFE Agency’s manual to cover migration issues
One of the points on which the speakers insisted is that of the words used to cover migration issues or to refer to migrants.
Jiménez acknowledged that he learned, thanks to style books – such as EFE – or the work of NGOs to differentiate between “jump” and “assault”: the latter term is usually used in the media to refer to the attempt of migrants to jump the border fence of Ceuta or Melilla but it is a word that is associated with weapons, which migrants do not carry.
In the same sense, Mohamed Ezzouak, director of the Moroccan electronic newspaper ‘Yabiladi’ – which gives special importance to the issues of the Moroccan diaspora abroad – recognized that because of the words we sometimes “animalize” the migrant using degrading words.
Ezzouak recalled some episodes in the past in the Moroccan press where sub-Saharan migrants were labeled “black plague” or even “cockroaches.”
“But the Moroccan media criticized this coverage,” said the journalist, who stressed that these are isolated situations in which it does not reflect the temperament of a country, where there is no polemical debate about emigration, unlike countries like Spain or France.
The correct terms must be used
In the same sense, Ghita Ismaili, journalist of the Moroccan weekly in French ‘Telquel’, stressed the difference between Spain and France, where “emigration is a daily issue” and where there is a political debate animated by the right and extreme right, a point in which he has cited Vox.
“When we refer to emigration in the Moroccan media it is done differently, emigration is very factual, there are not many comments, and the news is more about rescues made by the country’s authorities and the Royal Navy,” he said.
Ismaili recalled that the last time there was debate and the news of migrants monopolized the front pages of the media was after the call for the mass crossing to Ceuta on September 15, which went viral on social networks and led about 3,000 people, mostly Moroccans, to try.
The new EFE Style Book, whose first edition was published in 2011, has a different structure, reviews and rewrites much of its material and incorporates a multitude of aspects that have appeared or gained importance in recent years in the newsrooms of EFE and all media, such as social networks or artificial intelligence.
The coordinator of the guide, Javier Lascuráin, explained during the round table that the work includes the ethical, professional and linguistic principles of the public agency and broke down some of the considerations that are included in the treatment of migration: avoid pejorative terms such as “avalanche” or “mena”, give voice to migrants, among others.
International
India Approves New Dengue Vaccine as Global Cases Continue to Rise
India has approved a new dengue vaccine as health authorities seek to strengthen prevention efforts against a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects millions of people worldwide every year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the global population is currently at risk of contracting dengue, which causes between 100 million and 400 million infections annually.
Since 2021, India has recorded more than one million dengue cases, including at least 1,500 deaths.
The virus can cause high fever, severe headaches, muscle pain, nausea, skin rashes and, in rare cases, internal bleeding and death.
The vaccine, authorized by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), was developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. The Indian Health Ministry said the vaccine is recommended in two doses for people between 4 and 60 years old.
The treatment has already been approved by health authorities in around 40 countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, Indian pharmaceutical company Panacea Biotec has begun the final phase of clinical trials for a single-dose dengue vaccine, aiming to provide another prevention option against the disease.
Brazil recently announced the suspension of the use of another single-dose dengue vaccine developed in the country after two suspected deaths were reported.
International
U.S. Sends First Humanitarian Aid Flight to Cuba Amid Ongoing Tensions Between Both Governments
The United States announced Tuesday the dispatch of a humanitarian aid flight to Cuba as part of a $100 million assistance package proposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May.
The flight departed from Miami with the support of Catholic Relief Services, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.
The administration of President Donald Trump, which has maintained restrictions on oil supplies to the island and tightened sanctions against the Cuban government, had initially announced humanitarian assistance in November following the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa.
In February, amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana, Rubio announced an increase in aid while continuing to criticize the Cuban government.
The U.S. secretary of state accused Cuba’s communist authorities of obstructing the distribution of assistance. Washington has insisted that the aid be delivered through the Catholic Church to ensure it reaches Cuban citizens directly.
The Cuban government, meanwhile, has blamed the U.S. oil blockade for making the distribution of humanitarian assistance significantly more difficult.
The aid shipment comes as relations between the two countries remain strained, with disagreements continuing over sanctions, energy supplies and the management of humanitarian support.
International
Controversial Pesticide Law Passes in France, Sparking Ecological Concerns and Ministerial Fallout
The French Parliament on Tuesday approved a highly controversial agricultural law that allows certain farmers to use two pesticides considered harmful to bees, substances that had been banned in France but remain authorized in the European Union.
After the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, approved the agricultural bill in the early hours of Tuesday, the Senate gave its final approval with a vote of 214 in favor and 111 against, officially adopting the measure.
Following the decision to reintroduce the use of acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, the office of Environment Minister Monique Barbut announced that she would soon submit her resignation.
Supporters of the measure argue that French producers of sugar beets, apples and hazelnuts need access to these insecticides — banned in France since 2018 and 2019, respectively — to remain competitive with European farmers in other countries where the products are still allowed.
Opponents, including environmental groups, argue that the substances pose serious risks to bees and could also threaten human health.
“Let us be proud of the work that has been done,” said Senator Laurent Duplomb of the conservative Republicans party, one of the main supporters of the measure.
The vote came after France’s Constitutional Council, the country’s highest court, struck down a previous attempt last year to bring back acetamiprid, ruling that the measure could pose risks to human health. That decision followed a petition signed by more than two million people opposing the pesticide’s reintroduction.
The previous bill had also been promoted by Duplomb, who argued that French agriculture needed additional tools to compete in international markets.
India Approves New Dengue Vaccine as Global Cases Continue to Rise
U.S. Sends First Humanitarian Aid Flight to Cuba Amid Ongoing Tensions Between Both Governments
Controversial Pesticide Law Passes in France, Sparking Ecological Concerns and Ministerial Fallout
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