Livestream
Special Interview
Video Streaming
International News (6774)
May
More COVID-19 vaccines coming to Taiwan as cases spike
Written by Nur Yasmin
Much-needed COVID-19 vaccines should be coming to Taiwan soon, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance said on Monday, as the chip-producing island's limited supplies run short during a spike in cases that has left the government scrambling for supplies.
A surge of coronavirus infections in Taiwan, one of the world's COVID-19 mitigation success stories, has led to its stock of 300,000 doses rapidly running out, with only about 1% of its 23 million people vaccinated.
Taiwan has been a model of how to control the pandemic but over the past week has reported more than 700 domestic cases, out of a total of 2,017 infections recorded in all, triggering panic buying at supermarkets as the government tightened curbs.
The GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which with the World Health Organization is jointly running the COVAX scheme to provide doses to countries that may have difficulties obtaining them, said more AstraZeneca vaccines were coming to Taiwan.
COVAX expects Taiwan should receive allocated doses by the end of June at the latest, the alliance said in a statement to Reuters.
"The target remains to have 76 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from AZ delivered between February and June to supply up to 80 countries and we expect next tranches of deliveries of vaccines to Taiwan soon," it said.
Taiwan has ordered 20 million vaccine doses, mostly from AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) but also from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), though global shortages have curtailed supplies.
Taiwan has said it expects to get more than 1 million AstraZeneca shots via COVAX.
Graphic: COVID-19 Global vaccination tracker: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/
Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7 in an external browser.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Monday he will send at least 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to other countries by the end of June, marking the first time the United States is sharing vaccines authorized for domestic use. read more
Biden announced he will send doses of the Pfizer Inc PFE.N/BioNTech SE , Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) vaccines, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca doses he had already planned to give to other countries.
The White House has not said which countries will receive the shots and the U.S. State Department did not respond when asked what specific assistance was being offered to Taiwan, which counts Washington as its most important security ally.
Taiwan only has AstraZeneca vaccines and last week health authorities stopped giving shots to people who are not on priority lists that include the elderly and medical staff.
AstraZeneca said that through the COVAX facility it was committed to broad and equitable access to the vaccine, including to supply Taiwan.
Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters there was "no new progress" to report on the arrival of more vaccines but that lots more would gradually be coming. He gave no details.
CHIP MAKER
The opposition Kuomintang party has called for the world to ensure that the island, a major semiconductor maker, gets priority help.
"Taiwan's pandemic is related to the stability of the global electronic product supply chain," party chairman Johnny Chiang said on Sunday.
A further concern for the government has been China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has a deep antipathy towards its democratically elected leaders.
China has been shipping its domestically developed vaccines around the world and has offered them to Taiwan via COVAX, but Taiwanese law does not permit the use of Chinese vaccines.
A security official watching Chinese activity in Taiwan told Reuters the Taipei government believed Beijing was engaged in "cognitive warfare" to "create chaos" and undermine public trust in how the pandemic is being handled.
"They are trying to highlight the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines and how the government is blindly pinning its hopes on vaccines from the United States and home-made vaccines."
China's Taiwan Affairs Office told Reuters "most" Taiwanese hoped they could access Chinese vaccines, and called on Taiwan to remove "political obstacles." (Reuters)
May
U.S. imposes fresh sanctions on Myanmar -Treasury website
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States on Monday imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar, targeting the governing State Administrative Council and 16 people, including officials, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's website, in the latest in a series of punitive actions following the country's military coup.
The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the February coup when the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, with almost daily protests and a crackdown by the junta in which hundreds of people have been killed. (Reuters)
May
Singapore warns children susceptible to virus variants, shuts schools
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore warned on Sunday that the new coronavirus variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting more children, as the city-state prepares to shut most schools from this week and draws up plans to vaccinate youngsters.
All primary, secondary and junior colleges will shift to full home-based learning from Wednesday until the end of the school term on May 28.
"Some of these (virus) mutations are much more virulent, and they seem to attack the younger children," said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.
None of the children who have contracted the virus are seriously ill and a few have mild symptoms, he added.
On Sunday, Singapore confirmed 38 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the highest daily number since mid-September, with 17 currently unlinked. The cases included four children linked to a cluster at a tuition centre.
The B1617 strain appeared to affect children more, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, citing the ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak. It was not clear how many children had contracted the strain.
Singapore has reported more than 61,000 virus cases, with the bulk linked to outbreaks last year in foreign worker dormitories, and 31 deaths. Sunday's new cases were the highest number of local infections outside of the dormitories in a year.
"The sharp rise in the number of community cases today requires us to significantly reduce our movements and interactions in the coming days," Chan added.
The Asian trade and financial hub of 5.7 million people had until recently been reporting almost zero or single-digit daily infections locally for months.
Though Singapore's daily cases are still only a fraction of the numbers being reported among its Southeast Asian neighbours, infections have been increasing in recent weeks. From Sunday, the government implemented its strictest curbs on gatherings and public activities since a lockdown last year. read more
But the speed of Singapore's inoculation programme is being limited by the pace of vaccine supply arrivals. Experts are studying whether to give one dose of the vaccine and extend the interval between shots, said Ong.
Over a fifth of the country's population has completed the two-dose vaccination regimen with vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O). Authorities will invite people under 45 years of age to receive shots from the second half of May.
Chan said the government is also working on plans to vaccinate children below 16 years after regulatory approval, which was being sought by Pfizer. (Reuters)
May
Australian Open staying in Melbourne in 2022, says Tiley
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said he was prepared to "climb Mount Everest" again to keep the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park next year after a report said it might have to be moved.
State broadcaster ABC reported on Monday a government forecast that Australia's borders would be closed until mid-2022 could force the relocation of the tournament to Dubai or Doha as players would not be prepared to undergo quarantine again.
Tiley, who oversaw the strict 14-day quarantine of players and officials to get this year's Australian Open played against huge odds, said there were no plans to relocate the 2022 tournament.
"We're going to be here in Melbourne, we are going to make it work, it's going to be in January," the Tennis Australia chief executive told local media on Monday.
"We're going to find a way to get the players here who are currently travelling the world in a bubble.
"We are the only country where quarantine is required. We've got a find a way to manage that and we will."
Australia has been relatively successful in containing COVID-19 and the government sees strict restrictions on those who are able to enter the country as a key part of their strategy.
Tiley said he had learned a lot about how to plan a tournament during a pandemic earlier this year, when the Australian Open was successfully completed in front of reduced, and sometimes no, spectators.
"The two enemies, mass gatherings and international travel, COVID doesn't allow those two things to happen, and those are the pillars of our success," the South African added.
"Being able to get around that was a challenge. There's lots of speculation about 2022, and it's the same journey we are going to go on. It's going to be a ride.
"We felt like we climbed Mount Everest, and unfortunately now we've found ourselves back at base camp. But the one positive thing is that we at least have a path because we have done it once." (Reuters)
May
More COVID-19 vaccines coming to Taiwan as cases spike
Written by Nur Yasmin
Much needed COVID-19 vaccines should be coming to Taiwan soon, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance said on Monday, as the chip-producing island's limited supplies run short during a spike in cases that has left the government scrambling for supplies.
A surge of coronavirus infections in Taiwan, one of the world's COVID-19 mitigation success stories, has led to its stock of 300,000 doses rapidly running out, with only about 1% of its 23 million people vaccinated.
Taiwan has been a model of how to control the pandemic since it began but over the past week it has reported more than 700 domestic cases, out of a total of 2,017 infections recorded in all, triggering panic-buying at supermarkets as the government tightened curbs in the capital, Taipei.
The GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which with the World Health Organization is jointly running the COVAX scheme to provide doses to countries which may have difficulties obtaining them, said more AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccines were coming to Taiwan.
COVAX expects Taiwan should receive allocated doses by the end of June at the latest, the alliance said in a statement to Reuters.
"The target remains to have 76 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from AZ delivered between February and June to supply up to 80 countries and we expect next tranches of deliveries of vaccines to Taiwan soon," it said.
Taiwan has ordered 20 million vaccine doses, mostly from AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) but also from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), though global shortages have curtailed supplies.
Taiwan has said it expects to get more than 1 million AstraZeneca shots via COVAX.
Health authorities last week stopped giving shots to people who are not on priority lists that include the elderly and medical staff. Taiwan only has AstraZeneca vaccines.
AstraZeneca said that through the COVAX facility it was committed to broad and equitable access to the vaccine, including to supply Taiwan.
Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters on Monday that there was "no new progress" to report on the arrival of more vaccines but lots more would gradually be coming. He gave no details.
CHIP MAKER
Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang party has called for the world to ensure that the island, a major semiconductor maker, gets priority help.
"Taiwan's pandemic is related to the stability of the global electronic product supply chain," party chairman Johnny Chiang said on Sunday.
A further concern for the government has been China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has a deep antipathy towards its democratically elected leaders.
China has been shipping supplies of its domestically developed vaccines around the world and has offered them to Taiwan via the COVAX global sharing scheme.
Taiwan law does not permit the use of Chinese vaccines.
A security official looking into Chinese activity on the island told Reuters the security services had been told to focus on what the government believes is "cognitive warfare" by China to "create chaos" and undermine public trust in the government's handling of the pandemic.
"They are trying to highlight the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines and how the government is blindly pinning its hopes on vaccines from the United States and home-made vaccines, leaving the lives of citizens in the lurch."
China's Taiwan Affairs Office told Reuters "most" Taiwanese hoped they could access Chinese vaccines, and called on Taiwan to remove "political obstacles". (Reuters)
May
More forced power outages in Taiwan as demand spikes amid heatwave, drought
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan imposed power cuts on Monday evening following a spike in demand amid a heatwave and drought and failure at a power plant, in the second such outage in a week, although far fewer homes were affected.
Power was restored by 1340 GMT, electricity provider Taipower said.
Taiwan, which major chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW) call home, already imposed phased blackouts on Thursday following an outage at a plant in the southern city of Kaohsiung. read more
TSMC, which has factories across the island, said it had seen "no impact so far" from Monday's power cuts.
Taipower said 660,000 homes were affected by the power cuts, fewer than the roughly 4 million affected last week.
Taipower blamed a rise in demand coincided with the suspension of some generators due to a technical failure at the southern Hsinta Power Plant, the same facility that caused the problem last week.
The state-own company said that the worst drought to hit the island in more than half a century meant electricity generated by hydropower plants was insufficient to meet the unexpected demand on Monday evening, a record high for May.
By 8:40 p.m., only 40% of the supply had been restored in the coal- and gas-fired power plant, Taipower said.
Taiwan's cabinet offered an apology and urged citizens to stay safe.
Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, said the outages showed the government's power policy was inadequate and called for Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua to step down.
Taiwan is currently experiencing an unusually hot May with temperatures in parts of the island peaking at around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (Reuters)
May
Australia sticks by plan to re-open border in mid-2022
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia is sticking to plans to start re-opening to the rest of the world only from the middle of next year, officials said on Sunday, resisting mounting pressure to end the closure of international borders.
In March 2020, Australia closed its borders to non-nationals and non-residents and has since been allowing only limited international arrivals, mainly citizens returning from abroad.
"All the way through we will be guided by the medical advice," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a televised briefing. "We will be guided by the economic advice."
Earlier in the day, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) that the medical advice to keep the borders closed had 'served us very well through this crisis'.
Australia's border closure, combined with snap lockdowns, swift contact tracing and public health compliance has ranked its control measures among the world's most effective. Infections total about 29,700, with 910 deaths.
But border reopening plans unveiled this week have sparked criticism from businesses and industries, as well as politicians in Morrison's Liberal Party.
"Like many measures, international border closures had a temporary place, but it is not sustainable and will turn us into a hermit outpost," the Sunday Age newspaper quoted Tim Wilson, a Liberal Party member of parliament from Melbourne, as saying.
The newspaper also published recordings from Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, one of the architects of Melbourne's 111-day tough and successful lockdown last year.
Sutton suggested that Australia must start thinking about a reopening strategy once there is high vaccination coverage.
The government budget unveiled this week envisages vaccination by year-end for all willing Australians.
The border closure has stranded many Australians abroad. Government figures show that about 9,000 Australians in India have registered requests to return home.
On Saturday, the first repatriation flight from New Delhi following Australia's controversial ban on travel from India arrived half-empty in the northern city of Darwin, as many who had planned to travel were denied boarding after testing positive for the virus. read more
Morrison defended the testing requirements.
"I have seen the suggestions from others who seem to think that we can put people who have tested COVID-positive on planes and bring them into Australia," he told reporters.
"That just doesn't make any sense." (Reuters)
May
Do not give in to evil and division, Pope tells Myanmar community
Written by Nur Yasmin
The people of Myanmar must not despair in the face of evil or allow themselves to be divided, Pope Francis said on Sunday at a special Mass for the Myanmar community in Italy.
Myanmar's military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, derailing the country's tentative progress towards full democracy and triggering protests that have been met with a bloody crackdown.
Francis, who visited the Southeast Asian country in 2017, has repeatedly denounced the coup and on Sunday held a special service for the Myanmar faithful in St. Peter's Basilica.
"Your beloved country of Myanmar is experiencing violence, conflict and repression," the pope said in a toughly worded homily, urging the congregation to draw inspiration from the final hours of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.
"He does not resign himself to evil, he does not let himself be overwhelmed by grief, he does not retreat into the bitterness of the defeated and disappointed," he said.
Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country and is home to fewer than 800,000 Roman Catholics.
Francis, who has been one of the most outspoken global leaders on the Myanmar crisis, said people should not lose their faith or hope "even in the dark night of grief, even when evil seems to have the upper hand".
He also urged the people of Myanmar not to yield to "the logic of hatred and vengeance", nor to compromise their values. Unity was vital, he said.
Since grabbing power, the junta has struggled to govern. Protests, strikes and a civil disobedience campaign have crippled businesses and the bureaucracy, while an armed resistance has also taken hold in the northwest of the country. read more
The military has said its takeover was aimed at protecting democracy after a November election that it said was marred by fraud. The electoral commission rejected the military’s claims of irregularities. (Reuters)
May
Blinken discusses Gaza in calls with Qatari, Egyptian, Saudi foreign ministers
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in phone calls with the Qatari, Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers, the State Department said on Sunday.
Blinken and Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani discussed "efforts to restore calm in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza in light of the tragic loss of civilian life", the State Department said.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two officials discussed "the recent Israeli attacks on worshippers at the Al Aqsa Compound and the attack on the besieged Gaza Strip."
Al-Thani stressed the "need for urgent action by the international community to stop the repeated brutal Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque," it added.
Meanwhile, a growing group of U.S. senators on Sunday called for a ceasefire. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Republican Todd Young, the senior members of a Foreign Relations panel, said in a statement: "As a result of Hamas’ rocket attacks and Israel’s response, both sides must recognize that too many lives have been lost and must not escalate the conflict further."
Twenty-five other Democratic U.S. senators and two independents issued a separate, similar statement urging an immediate ceasefire.
In his call with Egypt's Sameh Shoukry, Blinken "reiterated his call on all parties to de-escalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence, which has claimed the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children", the State Department said in another statement.
Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Sunday that Blinken also had a phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to discuss the latest developments "in Palestine and in the region."
The State Department said the two discussed "the ongoing efforts to calm tensions in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza and bring the current violence to an end."
Qatar's Al-Thani also held a phone call on Sunday with Shoukry, in which they reviewed "bilateral cooperation relations and developments in Palestine," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two ministers agreed on "the importance of working to reach an immediate ceasefire between the two sides, and they also agreed to continue coordination in the bilateral framework, as well as in regional and international ones, regarding what is in the interest of the Palestinian people and reaching a ceasefire,"
The truce efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have so far offered no sign of progress. (Reuters)
May
Long working hours are a killer, WHO study shows
Written by Nur Yasmin
Working long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year in a worsening trend that may accelerate further due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
In the first global study of the loss of life associated with longer working hours, the paper in the journal Environment International showed that 745,000 people died from stroke and heart disease associated with long working hours in 2016.
That was an increase of nearly 30% from 2000.
"Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard," said Maria Neira, director of the WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.
"What we want to do with this information is promote more action, more protection of workers," she said.
The joint study, produced by the WHO and the International Labour Organization, showed that most victims (72%) were men and were middle-aged or older. Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than the shifts worked.
It also showed that people living in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific region -- a WHO-defined region which includes China, Japan and Australia -- were the most affected.
Overall, the study - drawing on data from 194 countries - said that working 55 hours or more a week is associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease compared with a 35-40 hour working week.
The study covered the period 2000-2016, and so did not include the COVID-19 pandemic, but WHO officials said the surge in remote working and the global economic slowdown resulting from the coronavirus emergency may have increased the risks.
"The pandemic is accelerating developments that could feed the trend towards increased working time," the WHO said, estimating that at least 9% of people work long hours.
WHO staff, including its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, say they have been working long hours during the pandemic and Neira said the U.N. agency would seek to improve its policy in light of the study.
Capping hours would be beneficial for employers since that has been shown to increase worker productivity, WHO technical officer Frank Pega said.
"It's really a smart choice not to increase long working hours in an economic crisis." (Reuters)