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Following Trump, Argentina Quits World Health Organization

Published

8 months ago

February 6, 2025

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Argentina said Wednesday it will quit the World Health Organization, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump’s United States and citing similar complaints over the UN body’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Railing against the economic fallout of Covid-19 lockdowns, President Javier Milei lamented “one of the most bizarre crimes against humanity” as he explained the reasons for the move.

Argentina’s self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” leader said the WHO had been “the executing arm of what was the greatest experiment in social control in history.”

The South American country announced its withdrawal from the UN health agency two weeks after Trump, an ideological ally and hero of Milei, signaled Washington’s planned exit.

Milei’s decision was based on “deep differences regarding health management especially during the pandemic,” spokesman Manuel Adorni told reporters earlier, adding Argentina would not “allow an international body to interfere in our sovereignty.”

Argentina had been hard hit by the pandemic, with about 130,000 deaths, and Milei’s predecessor Alberto Fernandez imposed a five-month lockdown in 2020 widely perceived as crippling for a struggling economy.

Adorni insisted withdrawing from the WHO gave Argentina “greater flexibility to implement policies adapted to the context” locally, while ensuring “greater availability of resources.”

The WHO did not immediately comment on Argentina’s departure.

WHO data shows Argentina contributed about $8.75 million in membership fees to the organization across 2022 and 2023 — 0.11 percent of the total budget.

It was slated to contribute $8.25 million for 2024-2025.

The vast majority of the UN agency’s budget comes from voluntary contributions, however, and Argentina has made none in recent years.

Adorni said Argentina “does not receive funding from the WHO, so this measure does not represent a loss of funds for the country.”

He also accused the body of “a lack of independence.”

– ‘Endless quarantines’ –
Last year, Argentina refused to join a new pandemic protocol drawn up by the WHO and gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the agency altogether.

International relations expert Federico Merke, of the University of San Andres in Buenos Aires, said the move would leave Argentina isolated when it comes to information-sharing and cooperation in the case of a new pandemic or other health threat.

Milei is an avowed fan of Trump, who signed an order within hours of his January 20 inauguration for the United States to withdraw from the WHO, which he has also criticized for its pandemic handling.

Washington was the biggest contributor to the Geneva-based organization, which Trump claimed had “ripped us off,” and the US withdrawal leaves global health initiatives short of funding.

Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has gutted public spending, having vowed to maintain a zero budget deficit after years of overspending.

His austerity measures are estimated to have tipped millions more people into poverty, but the country last year recorded its first budget surplus since 2010 while inflation fell by nearly half.

Milei was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate after the Republican’s November US election victory.

His decision also casts new doubt on Argentina’s future adherence to the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, under which countries committed to limiting greenhouse gas emissions to keep global average temperature rise below a critical threshold.

Withdrawing the United States from the Paris pact was another of Trump’s first moves after taking office.

Milei’s Argentina, pushing for a free trade deal with the United States, has previously said it was “reevaluating” its strategy “on all climate change-related issues.”

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

15 hours ago

September 26, 2025

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A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

17 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Headline

Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

19 hours ago

September 26, 2025

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United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.