Author: Perlina Rossi-Brown

President Trump signed a decree on Monday, just after his inauguration, for the United States to leave the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as the Paris Accord on climate change.

During his first term, Mr. Trump had already attempted to withdraw from the WHO and had briefly exited the Paris Agreement, before his successor, Joe Biden, formalized their return.

The American president has stated that the United States spends far too much on the UN organization compared to other countries. He thus urges federal agencies to “suspend any future transfer of funds, support, or resources from the U.S. government to the WHO.”

“The WHO is a pretty essential organization. With the United States withdrawing, it creates a political vacuum that only one country can fill, and that is China,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, who was the White House COVID-19 response coordinator under the Biden administration, during an interview with CNN on Monday.

This decision is part of Mr. Trump’s plans to increase hydrocarbon production in his country. He has even promised to dismantle Mr. Biden’s initiatives aimed at developing the clean energy sector in the United States.

The withdrawals from the WHO and the Paris Agreement are set to take effect in a year.

The miniature donkey Perry, who inspired the Shrek character dubbed by Eddie Murphy, Donkey, died at the age of 30. Afflicted with laminitis, a hoof disease that made him suffer for years, he was euthanized on January 2 in Palo Alto, California.

This short-legged donkey was selected by DreamWorks’ scriptwriters in 1999 as the inspiration for the morphology and personality of Donkey in Shrek. Although the studio financed the equivalent of a few months’ food for Perry, he was not credited in the film’s credits.

This omission sparked a debate on the recognition of animals involved in the film industry.

“Throughout his long life here, Perry has won the hearts of the Barron Park community and far beyond, with his beautiful expressive eyes, his gentle and kind character, his warm way of greeting visitors at the pasture gate, and of course his contribution to the movie Shrek as the movement model for the donkey character in the film,” reads an Instagram post by the Barron Park Donkeys.