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International News (6868)

30
March

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Jakarta. Pakistan will import Chinese Cansino Biologics COVID-19 vaccines in bulk to package 3 million doses locally, said the minister in charge for COVID operations.

“We will be getting the bulk vaccine by mid-April from Cansino, from which 3 million doses can be made,” the minister, Asad Umar said on Twitter.

The first batch of 60,000 doses of the vaccine is arriving today, he said.

Pakistan expects to receive one million doses of Sinopharm vaccine in a couple of days. (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. Leaders of 23 countries and the World Health Organization on Tuesday backed an idea to create an international treaty that would help deal with future health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic by tightening rules on sharing information.

The idea of such a treaty, also aimed at ensuring universal and equitable access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for pandemics, was floated by the chairman of European Union leaders, Charles Michel, at a summit of the Group of 20 major economic powers last November.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has endorsed the proposal, but formal negotiations have not begun, diplomats say.

Tedros told a news conference on Tuesday that a treaty would tackle gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A draft resolution on negotiations could be presented to the WHO’s 194 member states at their annual ministerial meeting in May, he said.

 

The WHO has been criticised for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused by the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump of helping China shield the extent of its outbreak, which the agency denies.

A joint WHO-China study on the virus’s origins, seen by Reuters on Monday, said it had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely” as a cause. But the study left many questions unanswered and called for further research.

On Tuesday, the treaty proposal got the formal backing of the leaders of Fiji, Portugal, Romania, Britain, Rwanda, Kenya, France, Germany, Greece, Korea, Chile, Costa Rica, Albania, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Senegal, Spain, Norway, Serbia, Indonesia, Ukraine and the WHO itself.

 

 

“There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone,” the leaders wrote in a joint opinion piece in major newspapers.

“We believe that nations should work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response.”

The leaders of China and the United States did not sign the letter, but Tedros said both powers had reacted positively to the proposal, and all states would be represented in talks.

 

The treaty would complement the WHO’s International Health Regulations, in force since 2005, through cooperation in controlling supply chains, sharing virus samples and research and development, WHO assistant director Jaouad Mahjour said. (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. A new algorithm-based study by a group of UK universities has predicted that 63 countries – roughly half the number rated by the likes of S&P Global, Moody’s and Fitch - could see their credit ratings cut because of climate change by 2030.

Researchers from Cambridge University, the University of East Anglia and London-based SOAS looked at a “realistic scenario” known as RCP 8.5, where carbon and other polluting emissions continue rising in coming decades.

They then looked at how the likely negative impact of rising temperatures, sea levels and other climate change effects on countries’ economies and finances might affect their credit ratings.

 

"We find that 63 sovereigns suffer climate-induced downgrades of approximately 1.02 notches by 2030, rising to 80 sovereigns facing an average downgrade of 2.48 notches by 2100," the study here released on Thursday said.

The hardest hit countries included China, Chile, Malaysia, and Mexico which could see six notches of downgrades by the end of the century, as well as the United States, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, and Peru that could see around four.

“Our results show that virtually all countries, whether rich or poor, hot or cold, will suffer downgrades if the current trajectory of carbon emissions is maintained.”

 

The study also estimated that as rating cuts usually increase countries’ borrowing costs in international markets the climate-induced downgrades would add $137–$205 billion to countries’ annual debt service payments by 2100.

In an alternative ‘RCP 2.6’ scenario where CO2 emissions start falling and go to zero by 2100, the rating impact would be just over half a notch on average and the combined additional cost would be a more modest $23–34 billion.

As companies’ borrowing costs generally track those of the countries they operate in, their combined annual debt bills were predicted to rise $35.8–$62.6 billion in the higher emissions scenario by 2100 and $7.2–$12.6 billion in the lower one.

"There are caveats. There are no scientifically credible quantitative estimates of how climate change will impact social and political factors," a blog article here released alongside the paper said. "Thus, our findings should be considered as conservative." (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. U.S. President Joe Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said on Monday.

Asked if Biden’s diplomatic approach to North Korea would include “sitting with President Kim Jong Un” as former President Donald Trump had done, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I think his approach would be quite different and that is not his intention,” she said.

 

North Korea launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to request a gathering of the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) sanctions committee, which then criticized the test.

Biden on Thursday said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite the tests, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

 

North Korea on Saturday said the Biden administration had taken a wrong first step and revealed “deep-seated hostility” by criticising what it called a self-defensive missile test.

Trump had three high-profile meetings with Kim, and exchanged a series of letters, but relations later grew frosty, and the nuclear-armed state said it would not engage further unless the United States dropped its hostile policies. (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. The blocking of the Suez Canal by one of the world’s largest container ships is likely to result in losses worth hundreds of millions of euros for the reinsurance industry, Fitch Ratings said, even as rescue teams were successful in partially refloating the vessel on Monday.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given got wedged diagonally across the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, blocking the path for hundreds of vessels waiting to transit the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

This event will reduce global reinsurers' earnings but should not materially affect their credit profiles, while prices for marine reinsurance will rise further, the credit rating agency said. bit.ly/3m1RwrL

 

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship got jammed, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

“The ultimate losses will depend on how long it takes the salvage company to free Ever Given completely and when normal ship traffic can resume, but Fitch estimates losses may easily run into hundreds of millions of euros,” Fitch said.

The owner and insurers of Ever Given also face claims totaling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

 

A large share of losses will probably be reinsured by a global panel of reinsurers, Fitch said, adding that this will add pressure to first-half earnings.

Global reinsurers are already on the hook for natural disasters such as winter storms in the U.S. and flooding in Australia, as well as COVID-19 pandemic-related losses. (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan removed his finance minister on Monday as part of a government shake-up aimed at bringing in policies to control “rising inflation”, the information minister.

The removal - the second of a finance minister in the 2-1/2 years of Khan’s tenure - comes amidst the restart of a $6 billion IMF bailout programme that had been suspended for one year over questions about fiscal and revenue reforms.

Cash-strapped Pakistan is also preparing to float Eurobonds worth around $2 billion to raise capital from international markets about two months before presenting a budget.

 

“There has been rising inflation, and the prime minister thinks that we need to bring in a fresh team which could devise pro-poor policies,” information minister Shibli Faraz told local Dunya News TV.

He said Hammad Azhar, the minister for industries and production, would replace Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

The central bank on March 19 kept its policy rate at 7% for a 10th consecutive month to support economic recovery while keeping inflation expectations well-anchored and maintaining financial stability. It also revised higher its growth rate for the current fiscal year.

 

The South Asian nation recorded 8.7% CPI Y/Y in February.

Sheikh had lost a parliamentary election earlier this month that was mandatory for him to keep the office of the finance minister constitutionally. However he could have stayed in office until June 10, and it is not clear whether the decision to remove him was also a move to cover for the consequences of that election loss. (Reuters)

30
March

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Jakarta. Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi has tested positive for COVID-19, he said on Twitter on Monday, after receiving his first dose of a vaccine.

“Had (first) dose of vaccine, but antibodies start developing after (second) dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful,” he said.

Coronavirus cases are rising quickly in the South Asian nation and Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive two days after receiving his first vaccine dose earlier this month with officials saying he had likely been infected before being vaccinated. (Reuters)

29
March

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Jakarta. Evergreen Line said on Monday that the Ever Given container ship would be inspected for seaworthiness after being dislodged from a southern section of the Suez Canal where it had been blocking traffic for nearly a week.

Taiwan listed Evergreen, which is leasing the ship, said decisions regarding the vessel’s cargo would be made after the inspection and that it would coordinate with the ship’s owner after investigation reports were completed. (Reuters)

29
March

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Jakarta. Influential parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday that Lebanon would sink like the Titanic if it could not form a government as he opened a session to approve emergency funds to literally keep the lights on for two more months.

“The whole country is in danger, the whole country is the Titanic,” Berri said. “It’s time we all woke up because in the end, if the ship sinks, there’ll be no one left.”

Lebanon is in the throes of a financial crisis that poses the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war. Without a new government, it cannot implement the reforms required to unlock desperately needed foreign aid.

 

But prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri and President Michel Aoun have been at loggerheads for months over the makeup of a new cabinet.

Parliament approved a loan of $200 million to pay for fuel for Lebanon’s electricity company after a warning by the energy ministry that cash had run out for electricity generation beyond the end of the month.

“This should be enough for electricity for around two months or two-and-a-half,” Cesar Abi Khalil, a member of parliament and former energy minister, told Reuters.

 

The Zahrani power plant, one of Lebanon’s four main electricity producers, has already had to shut down for lack of fuel.

“Any shutdown in one of these big plants affects power generation negatively,” Abi Khalil said. “This means Lebanese make up for it with generators that run on diesel that’s 30% more expensive than the fuel that’s bought by the electricity company.”

Lebanon already lacks power generation capacity and homes and businesses have to cope with power cuts for several hours a day, forcing many to turn to private generators. (Reuters)

29
March

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Jakarta. A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely”, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered, and the team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis, the report bit.ly/3waktXl added, citing a draft copy obtained by the Associated Press. (Reuters)