A new White House-backed ad campaign aiming to encourage people who are unemployed or unhappy in their jobs or careers to go out and ‘find something new’.
 
The opening ad in the ‘Find Something New’ campaign beginning Tuesday features ordinary people sharing their stories. A companion website provides links to training and other resources.
 
The Trump administration has long emphasized skills-based job and vocational training as an alternative to two- or four-year college degree programs, arguing that college isn’t for everyone and that many jobs don’t require a degree.
 
But the long-in-the-works effort has taken on a new sense of urgency after the coronavirus outbreak cost millions of people their jobs, many of which may be lost forever.
 
The campaign is a product of the White House’s American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, which President Donald Trump created in 2018.
 
The board is co-chaired by Trump’s daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
 
“There has never been a more critical time for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to be aware of the multiple pathways to career success and gain the vocational training and skills they need to fill jobs in a changing economy,” said Ivanka Trump.
 
The nonprofit Ad Council on Tuesday was announcing “Find Something New,” which it created in collaboration with IBM, Apple and members of the Business Roundtable, along with the White House and the workforce policy advisory board.
 
Another woman says she had no career plan after finishing high school, but “I found a medical course online” and became a phlebotomist. “You will find something,” she says.

The number of coronavirus cases in India surged by 28,000 cases on Tuesday and is approaching toward one million mark.
 
New 28,498 cases reported in the past 24 hours took the national total to 906,752. Cases have jumped by 100,000 in four days.
 
The Health Ministry also reported another 553 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 23,727.
 
India has largely lifted its nationwide lockdown, and the virus has been spreading at a significant rate, prompting several big cities to impose partial lockdowns.
 
The southern city of Pune started a 10-day lockdown Tuesday in an attempt to break the chain of infections. Only essentials including milk shops, pharmacies, doctors’ clinics and emergency services will be allowed open.
 
Eight of India’s 28 states, including the worst-hit Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi, account for nearly 90% of cases.
 
India is the third worst-affected country in terms of infections, only behind the United States and Brazil.

Millions of small businesses around the globe struggle to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
More than three months had dragged by since the coronavirus forced Chandan Shekhar to shut down his business — a narrow, second-floor shop racked with vibrantly colored saris, on a block in New York’s Jackson Heights neighborhood once thronged with South Asian immigrant shoppers.
 
Finally on Tuesday, he and other merchants were allowed to reopen their doors.
 
But they were returning to an area where COVID-19 had killed hundreds, leaving sidewalks desolate and storefronts to gather dust.
 
Now fears were fading. But no one knew what lay ahead on this late-June Monday as owners raised the gates at jewelry stores, tandoori restaurants and bridal shops clustered near Roosevelt Avenue’s elevated train line.
 
Overnight, the stress had woken Shekhar nine times.
 
“You cannot tell everybody it’s safe to come and buy from us. This is an invisible enemy that nobody can see,” said Shekhar, a father of two anxious about the shop’s $6,000 monthly rent.
 
“This is my baby,” he said, of the store, Shopno Fashion. “I have worked hard for this for more than 20 years, then I got my shop. It’s not easy to leave it.”
 
Amid the deaths of friends and customers, Shekhar is reluctant to complain.
 
As economies around the world reopen, legions of small businesses that help define and sustain neighborhoods are struggling.
 
The stakes for their survival are high: The U.N. estimates that businesses with fewer than 250 workers account for two-thirds of employment worldwide.

A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official called for data-driven Covid-19 public health strategies instead of not making a mere politically-driven decision on school reopening.
 
“We can’t play Whack-a-mole. We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time”, said Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, during WHO regular press briefing in Geneva on Monday.
 
The WHO official said the topic of school reopenings has become a “political football”, which is not fair on children.

 
“Decisions must be made on data, and an understanding of the risks. There needs to be a sustained commitment on suppressing the virus. If we can suppress it, then, schools can open safely,” he added.
 
No return to the old normal, says WHO Chief

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, also called for coherent, data-driven strategies that avoid the need to constantly switch from lockdown to reopening, and control the spread of the virus.
 
He warned that there will be “no return to the ‘old normal’ for the foreseeable future.”
 
It is possible for countries to suppress the pandemic, allowing people to get on with their lives, as long as governments focus on reducing mortality and transmission, Tedros added.
 
The WHO chief also said that national responses to the virus, have fallen into four different categories.
 
The first comprises countries that responded rapidly to the initial cases, were “alert and aware”, communicated effectively to their citizens, and avoided large outbreaks, said the WHO chief.

 
Examples of these countries can be found in the vast Mekong region of East Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa.
 
The second category of country, many of which are in Europe, initially saw major outbreaks, but managed to bring them under control, on a “data-driven, step-by-step basis, with a comprehensive public health approach, backed by a strong health workforce, and community buy-in”.
 
Science, solutions and solidarity

These countries are on the right track, and show that it’s never too late to bring the virus under control, said Tedros.
 
However, too many countries are still headed in the wrong direction, sending out mixed messages that undermine public trust, he added.
 
They include countries in the third category – which initially overcame the first peak of the outbreak, but then eased up only to face new peaks – and the fourth category, currently seen in the Americas, South Asia and several African countries, which are still in the “intense transmission phase” of their outbreak.
 
However, even for these countries, said the UN health chief, it is never too late to take decisive action, by implementing the basics and delivering clear public health messages, accelerating the science, finding joint solutions, and working in a spirit of solidarity.

President of the UN General Assembly stated that the response during Covid-19 pandemic must focus on “the two-thirds of the world’s population at risk of being left behind”.
 
“We need to focus on specific actions that will ease the impact on the well-being and livelihoods of people in developing countries and the marginalized around the world”, said Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on Monday.
 
He made the remarks while speaking to the virtual United Cities and Local Government Forum in the on-going High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, reports UN News.
 
“We need to address their specific needs now while building back,” he said.
 
Population in cities could triple by 2030

By 2050, 68 percent of the world’s population is expected to be urban while in developing countries, the urban population will double.
 
Moreover, the area covered by cities could triple by 2030, with many people projected to live in informal settlements.
 
“To respond effectively, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must be at the forefront of government strategies for recovery to safeguard our communities against future shocks by building resilient systems”, the Assembly president said.
 
He stated that this requires a recommitment to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for development financing, along with stemming illicit financial flows, which threaten community development everywhere.
 
Encouraged the 152 countries that had adopted national urban policies to promote sustainable urbanization, Muhammad-Bande urged all Member States to “emulate this leadership and work to safeguard the future for urban communities”.

Climate change issues

As urban centres along coastal areas are increasing, the threat of climate change is not receding and the negative effects of climate change are also felt by those living in mountainous areas.
 
The UN Official underscored that “We require climate-resilient urban management and a more concerted effort to utilize culture and innovation.”
 
He said that “Transformative partnerships…are key to promote people-centered policies and investments for liveable cities that provide decent, sustainable jobs, universal access to vital services including health, education, water, transport, energy and sanitation.”
 
A ‘Seminal’ year 2020

Against the backdrop of the UN’s 75th anniversary, the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, and the beginning of the Decade of Action and Delivery on the SDGs, Muhammad-Bande called 2020 “a seminal year”.
 
He also said that “It’ll, however, be remembered as the year that the world united against the coronavirus pandemic to protect the people we serve.”
 
He upheld that the General Assembly stands united in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“Clearly, the 2030 Agenda is our best way to safeguard the people we serve”, the Assembly president concluded.