A Swedish student who livestreamed her protest against the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker last year has been found guilty of violating Sweden’s aviation laws and fined £250. Elin Ersson, 22, avoided a prison sentence at the Gothenburg district court, where she was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 Swedish krona.

Last July, she broadcast her attempt to prevent a Turkish Airlines flight from leaving Göteborg Landvetter airport on Facebook. A 50-year-old Afghan, asylum seeker and convicted criminal, who was being deported from the country, was onboard. After Ersson refused to take her seat, several other passengers – including members of a football team – joined her protest and the asylum seeker was removed from the plane, to applause from passengers. The video went viral has been viewed millions of times around the world.The protest has had a mixed reception in Sweden, where attitudes have hardened towards immigration. The government has sharply reduced the number of asylum seekers and brought the country’s asylum regime in line with the rest of the EU. Sweden took in 370,000 people in the five years to 2016, but received 21,500 asylum applications last year, down from a peak of 163,000 in 2015.(theguardian)…[+]

The east London schoolgirl who left the UK to join Islamic State has compared the Manchester Arena bombing to airstrikes by the western allies that killed non-combatants in Isis-held areas. Shamima Begum, 19, says she wants to return to Britain and is asking for “forgiveness”, having given birth to a son on Saturday while in a refugee camp in Syria.

A debate has broken out about whether Begum, who travelled to Syria in 2015 aged 15, should be allowed to return to Britain having joined Isis, which has claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks on the UK. The Manchester Arena attack in May 2017 killed 22 people after a suicide bomber detonated a device packed with shrapnel at the end of a pop concert.

In the latest of a series of interviews she has given while in the camp, Begum told the BBC she had regrets about the Manchester attack: “I do feel that is wrong. Innocent people did get killed,” she said. “It’s one thing to kill a soldier, it’s fine, it’s self-defence. But to kill people like women and children, just like the women and children in Baghuz who are being killed right now unjustly by the bombings. It’s a two-way thing really.”(theguardian)…[+]

Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Regional Director for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), is visiting Belize from February 18-22 to meet with Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow, Minister of Health Pablo Marin, and other high-level officials. Dr. Etienne’s working meetings with Belizean officials are expected to focus on PAHO’s technical cooperation with Belize and the Director’s vision for universal health and sustainable development. Her visit will also include courtesy visits with the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Wilfred Elrington.

PAHO has been working with Belize and its member countries to advance the goal of “universal health” ever since ministers of health from throughout the Americas collectively endorsed that goal in 2014. The framework for these efforts is known as the primary health care (PHC) strategy, a strategic approach to developing, organizing, and financing health systems and services that are equitable, sustainable, and centered on people, families, and communities.

Dr. Etienne will also participate in a meeting of PAHO’s representatives in Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. That meeting will define strategic, programmatic and managerial approaches for the Organization’s national and subregional technical cooperation. It will also focus on repositioning public health for the 21st century and will include a presentation by the Minister of Health Pablo Marin. During her visit, Dr. Etienne will be accompanied by PAHO/WHO Chief of Staff Dr. Merle Lewis and PAHO/WHO Representative in Belize Dr. Noreen Jack. The Director will visit the Matron Roberts Polyclinic, one of the health centers that provides comprehensive health care as part of an integrated service network. The Director is also scheduled to participate in the launch of the Belize Human Resources for Universal Health Strategic Plan 2019-2024, which aims to increase the number of health care professionals…[+]