Those forgotten in Italy’s vaccine drive
While the Italian government has said that people have a right to get vaccinated no matter their legal status, many undocumented migrants and homeless people have been unable to secure shots, putting both them and others at risk.
To book vaccination appointments, people must enter their social security numbers. But only three of Italy’s 20 regions accept the temporary numbers given to hundreds of thousands of migrants.
More than 125,000 people have died in Italy from the virus. The country’s vaccine rollout started at a sluggish pace, with strategic hiccups and a shortage of doses.
Quotable: “My heart is so weak that if I get Covid it will take me away for sure,” said one homeless immigrant, 63. “I am scared.”
A high-emission industry resists regulation
The International Maritime Organization, a little-known U.N. agency that is responsible for reducing carbon emissions in the shipping industry, is doing the opposite. The organization has repeatedly delayed and watered down climate regulations.
Just last week, delegates met in secret to debate what should constitute a passing grade under a new rating system. Under pressure from China, Brazil and others, they set the bar so low that emissions can continue to rise at roughly the same pace as if there had been no regulations at all.
Close ties: Representatives of shipbuilders, oil companies, mining companies, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the I.M.O.’s delegates.
Clashes at Facebook over global politics
Discontent within Facebook has surged in recent weeks over the company’s handling of international affairs, culminating in tense meetings and an open letter, signed by more than 200 employees, calling for an audit of the company’s treatment of Arab and Muslim posts.
Employees have complained about the company’s decisions to take down posts from prominent Palestinian activists when clashes broke out in Israel, as well as messages critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook is in a tight spot. Governments across the world are pressuring it to remove content as they try to corral the platform’s power over online speech. But when Facebook complies, it upsets its employees, who say the social network has helped authoritarian leaders and repressive regimes quash activists and silence marginalized communities.
Analysis: “There’s a feeling among people at Facebook that this is a systematic approach, one which favors strong government leaders over the principles of doing what is right and correct,” said Facebook’s former head of policy for the Middle East and North Africa region, who left in 2017.
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ARTS AND IDEAS
A chef on the cookbook that changed her life
The chef and restaurateur Alice Waters, whose new book is “We Are What We Eat,” spoke to our Book Review.
What book, if any, most influenced your approach to food?
I got Elizabeth David’s “French Country Cooking” in my early 20s, shortly after I came back from studying in France in 1965. When I returned home to Berkeley, all I wanted to do was live like the French. Food is culture, and she revealed that. She also influenced me aesthetically — I loved the gracefulness and simplicity of her recipes and her cooking.
The last book you read that made you cry?
“The Water Dancer.” It’s heartbreaking.
The last book you read that made you furious?
Marion Nestle’s “Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat.” That made me absolutely furious. The title of the book says it all. And I’m so grateful to Marion for telling the truth. We need her book more than ever right now.
And the last book you read that made you laugh?
Maira Kalman always makes me laugh. Her children’s books are incredible, like “Ooh-La-La (Max in Love).” The illustrations are unlike any others, and her own incredible imagination just comes out in them.
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