WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opens the 75th World Health Assembly at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. (Credit: WHO)

⚕️ World Health Assembly opens under 'health for peace' banner – but in shadow of war. As the World Health Assembly (WHA) opened in Geneva on Sunday, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned member states that achieving ambitious global health goals – from snuffing out Covid-19 to expanding universal health coverage – will be virtually impossible if regional conflicts like ones ongoing in Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere continue to smoulder and burn.

⛰️ World Economic Forum meets again in Davos. Business leaders and politicians met on Sunday in the alpine resort after a two-year Covid induced hiatus – this time without the snow and with new global upheavals to discuss. For its founder Klaus Schwab, this edition is arguably the most important in half a decade – and the most tense.

🎣 Fishy decisions. With the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference just weeks away, negotiators in Geneva are making another push to finalise a deal aimed at protecting the world’s dwindling fish stocks before ministers arrive. Colombian ambassador Santiago Wills, who is chairing the talks, plans to hand in a clean version of the text by 3 May in what he’s labelled “fish decision week”.

📌 25 May | Book launch: ‘Unravelling unlawful confinement in contemporary armed conflicts’ This event marks the launch of Jelena Plamenac’s award-winning book, which delves into how states and non-state armed groups deprive us of liberty in contemporary armed conflicts.

📌 24 May | Global action to address global obesity. At this WHA side event, the Global Health Centre, in collaboration with the WHO, the Government of Croatia, and the Government of Mexico will present a plan to accelerate action against rising obesity.