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April
East Timor receives first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to begin inoculation drive this week
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. East Timor received its first batch of coronavirus vaccine on Monday, arranged by the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, the European Union, which backs the initiative said, as the tiny Southeast Asian nation readies to start an inoculation drive on Wednesday.
A total of 24,000 doses has arrived as planned from the facility which plans to provide vaccines enough to cover 20% of the country’s population of 1.3 million.
The former Portuguese colony has detected 714 cases of the coronavirus, most of which it said were imported, and no casualty so far.
But its porous border with Indonesia, which has recorded around 1.53 million COVID-19 cases and 41,600 deaths as of Sunday, has raised concern the virus could spread and wreak havoc on East Timor’s poorly equipped healthcare system.
East Timor put its capital city on a coronavirus lockdown last month for the first time amid fears of a local outbreak. (Reuters)
April
South Korea's LG becomes first major smartphone brand to withdraw from market
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc will wind down its loss-making mobile division after failing to find a buyer, a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market.
Its decision to pull out will leave its 10% share in North America, where it is the No. 3 brand, to be gobbled up by Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc with its domestic rival expected to have the edge.
“In the United States, LG has targeted mid-priced - if not ultra-low - models and that means Samsung, which has more mid-priced product lines than Apple, will be better able to attract LG users,” said Ko Eui-young, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities.
LG’s smartphone division has logged nearly six years of losses totalling some $4.5 billion. Dropping out of the fiercely competitive sector would allow LG to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices and smart homes, it said in a statement.
In better times, LG was early to market with a number of cell phone innovations including ultra-wide angle cameras and at its peak in 2013, it was the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung and Apple.
But later, its flagship models suffered from both software and hardware mishaps which combined with slower software updates saw the brand steadily slip in favour. Analysts have also criticised the company for lack of expertise in marketing compared to Chinese rivals.
While other well-known mobile brands such as Nokia, HTC and Blackberry have also fallen from lofty heights, they have yet to disappear completely.
LG’s current global share is only about 2%. It shipped 23 million phones last year which compares with 256 million for Samsung, according to research provider Counterpoint.
In addition to North America, it does have a sizeable presence in Latin America, where it ranks as the No. 5 brand.
While rival Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi do not have much of a presence in the United States, in part due to frosty bilateral relations, their and Samsung’s low to mid-range product offerings are set to benefit from LG’s absence in Latin America, analysts said.
LG’s smartphone division, the smallest of its five divisions accounting for about 7% of revenue, is expected to be wound down by July 31.
In South Korea, the division’s employees will be moved to other LG Electronics businesses and affiliates, while elsewhere decisions on employment will be made at the local level.
Analysts said they were told in a conference call that LG plans to retain its 4G and 5G core technology patents as well as core R&D personnel, and will continue to develop communication technologies for 6G. It has yet to decide whether to license out such intellectual property in the future, they added.
LG will provide service support and software updates for customers of existing mobile products for a period of time which will vary by region, it added.
Talks to sell part of the business to Vietnam’s Vingroup fell through due to differences about terms, sources with knowledge of the matter have said.
LG Elec shares have risen about 7% since a January announcement that it was considering all options for the business. (Reuters)
April
Malaysia's ex-PM Najib starts appeal against 1MDB-linked conviction, jail sentence
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Malaysia’s Court of Appeal on Monday began hearing a bid by former Prime Minister Najib Razak to set aside his conviction on corruption charges in a case linked to a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
Najib, who was voted out in a historic 2018 election, faces several trials over allegations that $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund he co-founded in 2009. He has plead not guilty to all charges.
Last year, Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail and a $50 million fine after being found guilty of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.
The sentences were stayed pending an appeal.
Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, in his opening remarks on Monday, argued that the trial judge had erred by including additional matters in his final ruling which had not originally been part of the case against the former premier.
“We will be contending that this was highly improper and in fact, prejudicial towards our client,” Muhammad Shafee said.
Muhammad Shafee had earlier requested for the appeal to be adjourned for another month, saying he needed more time to obtain documents relevant to Najib’s defence from the United States and Singapore. The court, however, rejected the request.
The court has fixed 12 days between April 5 and 22 to hear the appeal. If Najib loses the bid, he can still appeal at the Federal Court, Malaysia’s highest tribunal.
Prosecutors have said more than $1 billion of 1MDB funds made its way into Najib’s personal accounts, over which he faces a total of 42 criminal charges.
At least six countries have opened investigations into 1MDB, in a globe-spanning scandal that has implicated high-level officials and major financial institutions.
In recent months, Malaysia has recovered more than $3 billion from U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, audit firm Deloitte, and Malaysian banking group AmBank in separate deals to settle claims linked to 1MDB probes. (Reuters)
April
Tourism first! Island of Phuket in mass vaccination drive ahead of the rest of Thailand
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. In Thailand, it’s the all-important tourism sector that has jumped to the head of the COVID-19 vaccination line, with the country’s most popular resort island embarking on a mass inoculation programme two months ahead of the rest of the country.
The island of Phuket aims to deliver shots to at least 460,000 people - most of its population - as it gears up for July 1, when vaccinated overseas visitors will no longer be required to quarantine.
Phuket also has its own international airport and tourists would be able to roam the island freely without posing any coronavirus risk to the rest of Thailand’s population.
“If we can build immunity for 70-80% of the population on the island, we can receive foreign tourists who have been vaccinated without the need for quarantine,” Phuket’s Vice Governor Piyapong Choowong told Reuters.
While medical workers, members of the cabinet and the elderly were the first to be vaccinated, Thailand’s decision to prioritise Phuket over other parts of the country underscores the central role of tourism to the economy.
Spending by foreign tourists accounted for 11-12% of GDP pre-pandemic and the sector has been devastated by the virus with 1.45 million jobs lost since last year.
Just 6.7 million foreign tourists visited Thailand in 2020, spending some $11 billion. That compares with nearly 40 million in 2019, when they spent $61 billion.
The government wants to see at least 100,000 tourists come to Phuket in the third quarter. It also hopes that as vaccinations worldwide progress it will see a spike in demand in the fourth quarter and that nationwide some 6.5 million visitors will have spent 350 billion baht ($11 billion) by the end of the year.
“It’s a challenge. But that will contribute to GDP to some extent,” said Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
“We don’t expect tourists will come in like a broken dam but we hope to have quality visitors with high spending.”
Visitors from Europe, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are expected to return first, Yuthasak said.
Strict 14-day quarantine requirements for overseas visitors have helped Thailand limit coronavirus infections to around 29,100 cases and 95 deaths but have proven to be too great a hurdle for most tourists.
Programmes to attract long-term tourists who test negative for the coronavirus have largely flopped, even with creative measures such as quarantine at golf resorts.
Songklod Wongchai, an analyst at Finansia Syrus, believes Thailand could see a quick rebound in tourism, citing the example of the Maldives which has seen hotel occupancy rates bounce back to 70-80% despite cases of the virus.
“Pent-up demand may come back faster than expected. I think the Land of Smiles will start smiling again,” he said. (Reuters)
April
India's daily virus cases breach 100,000; mutants, behaviour blamed
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. India reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections on Monday, becoming the second country after the United States to post more than 100,000 new cases in a day, as politicians stage massive election rallies raising fears of further spreading the virus.
Hospitals in the worst affected state, Maharashtra, are being overrun by patients. India’s richest state, home to its commercial capital Mumbai and numerous industries, reported a record 57,074 new cases overnight.
The country’s daily infections have risen about 12 fold since hitting a multi-month low in early February, when authorities eased most restrictions and people largely stopped wearing masks and following social distancing.
With 103,558 new infections, India has now reported 12.6 million cases, the highest after the United States and Brazil, data from the health ministry showed. Deaths jumped by 478, still one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, raising the total to 165,101.
India has recorded the most number of infections in the past week anywhere in the world. More infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in the second surge, some epidemiologists say.
“The new variant, or variants of concern, probably explains a lot of it, rather than simplistic explanation of behaviour,” said Rajib Dasgupta, head of the Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
India has found hundreds of cases of the virus variants first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
Subhash Salunke, a former WHO official who advises Maharashtra on its COVID-19 strategy, said cases in the state would continue to rise for another couple of weeks. He said a way out was vaccinating all adults in its hardest-hit cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Nashik.
“If we start doing this, by the end of April we will see a downward trend,” he said. (Reuters)
April
Restrictions imposed in and around Mumbai as COVID cases in Indian state surge
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. India’s richest state, Maharashtra, announced stringent COVID-19 restrictions from Monday, after a rapid rise in infections now accounting for more than half the country’s daily new cases.
An industrialist who attended a meeting with the chief minister before the curbs were announced quoted him as saying that “the situation is grim and there could be shortage of hospital beds, doctors and oxygen cylinders”.
He declined to be named, but the comments echo those of government and health officials to Indian media about the situation in the state, which includes the crowded financial capital Mumbai.
The state will shut shopping malls, cinemas, bars, restaurants and places of worship from Monday evening.
Authorities will also impose a complete lockdown at weekends, Nawab Malik, a minister in the state government, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Malik said the government would impose a night curfew across the state from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Monday, allowing only essential services to operate during those hours.
Millions of migrant workers travel from across India to secure jobs in the western state that accounts for about 16% of India’s economic output.
Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met the industrialists before announcing the restrictions, according to a statement from his office.
Malik said industrial operations such as manufacturing and construction activity would be allowed to continue as usual.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the COVID-19 situation and vaccination programme.
The country reported 93,249 new cases in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, according to data from the federal Health Ministry. Maharashtra, which accounts for less than a 10th of the population, accounted for a record 49,447 new cases.
The state, according to health ministry data, has contributed 57% of total cases and 47% of deaths in the country in the past 14 days.
Ten matches in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament scheduled to be played in Mumbai between April 10-25 will continue as planned despite the new curbs, an official at the local cricket body told Reuters.
The tournament, set to start without spectators from Friday in six venues across the country, has already been hit, with two cricketers testing positive despite coronavirus protocols set up for participants.
India is behind the United States and Brazil in the highest number of infections in the world, with more than 12 million cases and nearly 165,000 deaths recorded since the start of the outbreak. (Reuters)
April
Australia to continue AstraZeneca vaccination despite blood clotting case
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Australia will continue its inoculation programme with AstraZeneca PLC, health officials said on Saturday, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
A 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with clotting, days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, suffering serious thrombosis, a condition that prevents normal blood flow though the circulatory system.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulator and a panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), met late Friday and early Saturday to discuss further advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have not been advised at this time by ATAGI or the TGA to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia,” Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, told a televised briefing Saturday afternoon.
Kidd said, however, that the blood clotting case is “likely” related to the vaccine.
“The risks of serious side effects remain very low, but safety is paramount and that is why TAGI and the TGA are continuing to do due diligence on this case,” Kidd said, adding that further announcements would come next week.
On Thursday, Britain identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events following use of the vaccine. Several nations, including Canada, France, Germany and Spain, limited its use after similar reports.
Possible complications with the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine could further slow the already delayed inoculation drive in Australia.
Australia launched mass vaccinations for its 25 million people in February, with most expected to receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as 50 million doses are being produced domestically by CSL Ltd.
The country has had troubles, however, rolling out the programme, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame.
The troubles follow a year of significant success curbing the virus, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths.
On Saturday, Queensland state, the epicentre of the most recent small outbreak of the coronavirus, recorded one new infection, health officials said, but risks to the public were minimal as the victim had been in isolation for days. (Reuters)
April
Young Pakistanis rush to purchase Russian vaccine as private sales open
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Thousands of Pakistanis rushed to get inoculated in the first round of commercial sales of COVID-19 vaccines that began over the weekend, with vaccination sites in the southern city of Karachi saying on Sunday they had already sold out.
Pakistan is currently offering free vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow, and last month the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the general public.
The first round saw the commercial sale of the two-shot Russian Sputnik V to the general public for about 12,000 Pakistani rupees ($80) for a pack of two doses.
Despite the cost, a number of centres offering the shot reported long queues, with some in Karachi waiting in line for close to three hours. Most in the queue were young Pakistanis still not eligible for government’s free vaccination.
“I am very happy to get it, since now it is required for travelling,” Saad Ahmed, 34, told Reuters on Sunday after he got his shot at an upscale private sector hospital in Karachi.
While the private sale of vaccines has begun, the government and importers are still locked in a pricing dispute.
Pakistan initially agreed to exempt imported vaccines from price caps, but later rescinded the exemption and said it would set maximum prices.
One pharmaceutical company, which had already imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik V, took the government to court, where it won an interim order allowing it to sell it until pricing is decided.
As soon as vaccination was opened for walk-in customers, there were long lines of people, Dr Nashwa Ahmed, who runs vaccination at Karachi’s South City Hospital, told Reuters.
Pictures of queues outside the hospital late into the night were shared on social media.
The hospital procured 5,000 doses of Sputnik V and in just over two days all its stock had been administered or pre-booked, said a hospital official who asked not to be identified.
Companies, including one of Pakistan’s largest banks, have also purchased large quantities to have staff inoculated, the official said.
The private sales start as the country deals with a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections and healthcare facilities are fast filling to capacity.
The number of patients now in critical care has reached 3,568, the highest since the pandemic started, a cabinet minister, Asad Umar, said on Twitter. Pakistan has thus far reported 687,908 infections and 14,778 deaths. (Reuters)
April
French Open postponement a possibility - sports minister
Written by nuke
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said it was possible the French Open could be postoned for the second year amid the COVID-19 crisis.
France entered a third nationwide lockdown on Saturday to contain the coronavirus spread, although professional sports have largely been spared. An exception is cycling’s Paris-Roubaix one-day race, which has been postponed from its original April 11 slot.
The French Open, which last year was postponed by four months and took place in front of limited crowds, is due to start this year on May 23.
“We are in discussion with them (the French Tennis Federation, which organises the event) to see if we should change the date to coincide with a possible resumption of all sports and major events,” Maracineanu told France Info radio late on Saturday.
“Today, although high-level sport has been preserved, we try to limit the risks of clusters, of spreading the virus within professional sports.”
President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he was expecting to re-open the country in mid-May.
The director-general of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moreton, said earlier this week that he could not imagine the Grand Slam tournament being cancelled//Reuters
April
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops have started withdrawing from Tigray
Written by nuke
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops have started withdrawing from Tigray
Eritrean forces have started withdrawing from Ethiopia’s Tigray region in the north, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said.
The United States, Germany, France and other G7 countries called on Friday for a swift, unconditional and verifiable withdrawal of the Eritrean soldiers, followed by a political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians.
In a rejoinder issued late on Saturday through the Foreign Ministry, Ethiopia said that the G7 foreign ministers’ statement had not acknowledged key steps being taken to address the needs of the region.
“The Eritrean troops who had crossed the border when provoked by the TPLF have now started to evacuate and the Ethiopian National Defense Force has taken over guarding the national border,” it said in a statement.
Fighting erupted in Tigray in early November after forces loyal to the then-governing party there - the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - attacked army bases across the region. In late November, federal troops ousted the TPLF from the capital Mekelle and the Ethiopian government declared victory.
Thousands of people died in the conflict, hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes and there are shortages of food, water and medicine in the region. The government says most fighting has ceased but there are still isolated incidents of shooting.
Full access to the region has now been granted to humanitarian organisations, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that a joint investigation with external experts into alleged human rights violations will start soon.
“Whilst the government... honesty appreciates the concerns being expressed, it has already been too apparent that the supply of food and medicinal aid must be the crux of expressions of concerns,” the ministry said//Reuters