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March
Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees take holy plunge in Ganges
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees plunged into India’s Ganges river on Thursday as the country kicked off one of the world’s largest religious festivals, even as officials reported the biggest spike in coronavirus cases for three months.
Hindu ascetics known as Naga sadhus, many naked apart from a coating of ash and carrying swords or tridents, led the bathers at the Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, in the northern town of Haridwar.
All participants at this year’s event, that runs until the end of April, are required to present a negative coronavirus test result before being allowed into the festival grounds, authorities said. But there was little evidence of social distancing in place on Thursday as bathers jostled at the riverbank.
Devout Hindus believe bathing in the waters of the Ganges absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
More than 22,000 people had bathed in the holy river by 0800 local time (0230 GMT), police overseeing the festival told Reuters partner ANI, a number that was expected to rise significantly throughout the day.
Authorities said that more than 100 million people attended the festival in 2019, the last time it was held, a figure that most expect will be lower this year.
After an almost three-month lockdown last year that was one of the world’s harshest, India has relaxed almost all restrictions on movement since a peak in cases in September, including reopening vast stadiums for cricket matches, one of the country’s national obsessions.
However, India’s COVID-19 cases numbers are again surging, putting it among the top five countries reporting the most daily new infections.
Officials reported 22,854 new infections on Thursday, the highest in nearly three months, taking the country’s total to 11.3 million. Deaths rose by 126 to 158,189, health ministry data showed. (Reuters)
March
Seven killed in Myanmar protests; army accused of using battle tactics
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Seven people were killed when security forces opened fire on anti-junta protests in Myanmar on Thursday, witnesses and local media said, as rights group Amnesty International accused the military of adopting battle tactics against demonstrators.
Six people were killed in the central town of Myaing when forces fired on a protest, one man who took part in the demonstration and helped carry bodies to hospital, told Reuters by telephone. A health worker there confirmed all six deaths.
“We protested peacefully,” the 31-year-old man said. “I couldn’t believe they did it.”
One person was killed in the North Dagon district of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, domestic media said. Photographs posted on Facebook showed a man lying prone on the street, bleeding from a head wound.
Before Thursday’s deaths, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group has said more than 60 protesters have been killed and about 2,000 people detained by security forces since the Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings documented amounted to extrajudicial executions.
“These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions,” said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.
“These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open.”
A junta spokesman declined to give an immediate comment, but said there would be a news conference held by the military’s council in the capital Naypyitaw at 2 pm. (0730 GMT) on Thursday.
The junta has previously said it is acting with utmost restraint in handling what it describes as demonstrations by “riotous protesters” whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
Protests were also staged in half a dozen other towns, according to Facebook posts.
Overnight, people defied a curfew to hold several more candle lit vigils in parts of Yangon and also in Myingyan, south west of the second city of Mandalay.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday condemned violence against protesters and urged the army to show restraint, but failed to denounce the military takeover as a coup or threaten further action due to opposition from China and Russia.
U.S. SANCTIONS GENERAL’S CHILDREN
State media said the junta had removed Arakan Army (AA) insurgents from its list of terrorist groups because the faction has stopped attacks and in order to help establish peace across the country.
The move comes at a time the army is struggling to contain daily protests against the coup.
The AA is fighting for greater autonomy in the western Rakhine state and had become one of the most formidable forces in challenging an army that has been fighting various ethnic wars for seven decades.
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against peaceful protesters and called for the military to “exercise utmost restraint”.
But language that would have condemned the coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the British-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realize it “is absolutely essential” that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected.
The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud - an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election within a year, but has not set a date. (Reuters)
March
China's parliament moves to overhaul Hong Kong's electoral system
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - South Korea will authorise the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people aged 65 years and older, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday, a move that will allow the country to ramp up its immunisation drive.
The measures are part of Beijing’s efforts to consolidate its increasingly authoritarian grip over the global financial hub, following the imposition of a sweeping national security law in June, which critics see as a tool to crush dissent.
Beijing is responding to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, which it saw as a threat to China’s national security. Since then, most high-profile democratic politicians and activists have been sent to jail or are in self-exile.
The changes virtually eliminate any possibility of the opposition affecting the outcome of elections in the former British colony, whose return to Chinese rule in 1997 came with a promise of a high degree of autonomy.
The blanket requirement for “patriotism” raises the risk that politicians will start competing over who is more loyal to Beijing, rather than who has the better ideas for how the city should be governed, analysts say.
The measures will alter the size and composition of Hong Kong’s legislature and an electoral committee selecting the chief executive in favour of pro-Beijing figures.
The committee will also be given powers to select many city legislators. A new mechanism will be set up to vet candidates and screen election winners’ behaviour to make sure only those seen as patriots rule Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Secretary for Mainland and Constitutional Affairs Erick Tsang has defined patriotism as “holistic love” for China, including the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
Beijing had promised universal suffrage as an ultimate goal for Hong Kong in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Critics say the changes to the electoral system move Hong Kong towards the opposite direction, leaving the democratic opposition with the most limited space it has ever had since the 1997 handover, if any at all.
It is not clear what shape any future opposition could take and how its message could comply with loyalty requirements. (Reuters)
March
World powers ignoring North Korea crimes against humanity amid nuclear programme focus: U.N. expert
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - World powers bear responsibility for ignoring crimes against humanity that may still be perpetrated by authorities in North Korea amid a focus on its nuclear programme, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Wednesday.
Tomas Ojea-Quintana urged the U.N. Security Council to refer grave violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
He voiced concern at reports of severe punishments imposed for breaking COVID-19 lockdown measures, including alleged orders to “shoot on sight” anyone trying to cross the border.
“Crimes against humanity may be ongoing,” Ojea-Quintana told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
He had received information confirming the findings of a landmark 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry on extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, forced abortion, sexual violence, political persecution and “the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation” in the isolated country.
“The urgency to stop violations of such a scale, gravity and nature cannot take a back seat to national interests or geopolitical interests,” Ojea-Quintana told the Geneva forum.
This was not justifiable under the U.N. Charter, he said, adding: “I believe that the Security Council bears responsibility for its inaction against the continuation of crimes against humanity in the DPR Korea.”
Ojea-Quintana presented his latest report, issued last week, which said that drastic measures taken by North Korea to contain the novel coronavirus have exacerbated abuses and economic hardship for its citizens, including reports of starvation.
“We are concerned about increasing reports of starvation, imprisonment and summary executions,” U.S. charge d’affaires Mark Cassayre told the council.
Australia’s deputy ambassador, Jeffrey Roach, said that North Korea’s top priority should be improving the lives of its citizens. “Instead, the regime’s focus remains on developing weapons of mass destruction and the vehicles for delivering them,” he said.
North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva did not respond to Reuters’ queries for comment. Pyongyang does not recognise the U.N. investigator’s mandate and boycotted Wednesday’s debate.
It has previously rejected U.N. allegations of crimes against humanity. (Reuters)
March
'Ticket to recovery': Australia to offer subsidised flights to support tourism
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - Australia will subsidise 800,000 domestic flights, help its two main airlines and offer cheap loans to small tourism operators as part of A$1.2 billion ($921 million) package to revive the travel sector, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say on Thursday.
Tourism is one of Australia’s biggest industries, worth more than A$60 billion and employing about 5% of the country’s workforce. But the sector was crippled when the country shut its international borders in March 2020 to curtail the spread of COVID-19 - leaving tens of thousands of people on the country’s wage-subsidy scheme.
Seeking to prop up the industry when the subsidy scheme ends this month, Morrison will pledge another stimulus package for the travel sector, according to extracts of an announcement seen by Reuters.
Morrison will say Australia will subsidise the flights of 800,000 domestic flights between Apr. 1 and July 31 while its international borders remain closed. It will pay 50% of the cost of flying to 13 destinations, he will say. Airlines have agreed to provide additional flights to those places.
“This is our ticket to recovery - 800,000 half-price air fares to get Australians travelling,” Morrison will say.
The premier will also say that his government will provide financial support to Qantas and Virgin Airways between Apr. 1 and Oct. 31 - when international flights are expected to resume.
Morrison did not disclose the scale of the funds, which will be used to keep 8,600 workers employed, planes in “flight-ready condition” and international passenger services at a pre-pandemic levels.
Australia will also offer loans of up to A$5 million to tourism businesses such as tour companies, with two-year repayment holidays, the prime minister will say.
“We need Australians to do their patriotic duty and book a holiday this year,” trade minister Dan Tehan will say. (Reuters)
March
South Korean hospitals extract extra COVID vaccine doses from vials
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - In a handful of South Korean hospitals, designated nurses are using specially designed syringes to squeeze extra doses of coronavirus vaccine out of each vial in a bid to stretch the still limited number of vials to cover more people.
The practice has raised debate over medical safety and commercial concerns from the manufacturers who charge by the dose.
But at Seoul’s National Medical Center, healthcare workers say it’s actually a safe and easy process that should be a no-brainer for countries struggling to provide enough vaccines quickly.
“Two designated nurses take shifts to extract the doses and each of us had no trouble getting seven doses from each vial, vaccinating everyone,” said Kim Eun-suk, an intravenous therapy specialist who was taking a shift extracting doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from vials that officially only hold six.
On Tuesday, Kim said the centre vaccinated 629 people with 90 vials of Pfizer vaccine co-developed by its German partner BioNTech, compared with the 540 people possible had they only extracted six doses from each vial.
It takes about five minutes to extract the doses using “low dead space” syringes designed to minimise the residual volume, she said.
“Extraction itself is not difficult. It requires squeezing the exact amount with the syringe. The most important is sterilization and I think any nurse would be able to pull through.”
At the suggestion of frontline nurses, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said it was up to providers whether to use of remaining doses, but did not make it a new standard or mandatory because it said it could burden the healthcare workers on site.
National Medical Center president Chung Ki-hyun said that the contracts with manufacturers - who sell by the dose - should not be a roadblock for on-site healthcare workers to use the remaining doses when they can save lives.
“With care and precision, the extra dose isn’t as hard to extract,” he said.
It’s not clear how many South Korean clinics are using the extra doses, but Chung said following the official limit means throwing away potentially life-saving vaccines.
Experts were divided about the decision to extract extra doses, as pooling leftover vaccine from multiple vials can lead to contamination. With the specialised low dead space syringes, however, a full extra dose can typically be pulled from a single Pfizer vaccine vial, and as many as two extra doses from AstraZeneca’s vaccine vials.
Urging caution over imprecise extraction, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) has advised its members to discard the remaining doses in the vials, according to a statement seen by Reuters.
KDCA said 446,941 people were given first doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots by Tuesday midnight. South Korea has reported 470 new cases on Tuesday, adding to the total coronavirus cases of 93,733, with 1,648 deaths. (Reuters)
March
Dollar regains footing as U.S. yields stabilise
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - The U.S. dollar regained footing on Wednesday, clawing back some of its losses sustained overnight, as U.S. bond yields stabilized following a drop from one-year highs.
Riskier currencies including the Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated after logging big gains on Tuesday. Bitcoin turned lower after earlier topping $55,000 for the first time since Feb. 22.
Against the yen, another traditional safe-haven currency, the greenback traded 0.3% higher at 108.80 yen, following its retreat from a nine-month peak of 109.235.
Investors will have their eye on U.S. inflation numbers due later on Wednesday.
Traders are also wary bond yields could rise further this week as the market will have to digest a $120 billion auction of 3-, 10-, and 30-year Treasuries, especially after last week’s soft auction and a 7-year note sale that saw a spike in yields.
“Particularly the latter (the 10-year auction today will be followed by a 30-year UST auction tomorrow) is the main risk to market sentiment today should low demand reinstate pressure on the fragile UST market,” said ING strategists in a daily note.
“Equally, a good take-up could reiterate the risk-friendly mood in FX markets observed yesterday. Hence, one should get ready for a day of volatility with the FX market looking for signs of confirmation as to whether the risk rally yesterday was a short-term blip or the tentative start of a trend.”
The dollar index has closely tracked a surge in Treasury yields in recent weeks, both because higher yields increase the currency’s appeal and as the bond rout shook investor confidence, spurring demand for the safest assets.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield stabilised around 1.5630% on Wednesday in European trade after a three-day drop from a one-year high of 1.6250%.
The dollar index strengthened about 0.1% to 92.099, after retreating from a 3-1/2-month high of 92.506 the previous day.
Bond investors have been selling on bets that a faster-than-expected economic rebound would spark a surge in inflation, with President Joe Biden expected to sign a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package as soon as this week.
The euro was 0.1% lower at $1.18890.
The European Central Bank meets Thursday and one topic will dominate: what to do about rising sovereign bond yields which if left unchecked could derail efforts to get a coronavirus-hit economy back on track.
“Although the recent move in bond yields has not spared the euro zone, the tightening in financial conditions has been far less of a problem for the ECB given the different nominal starting point,” said Geoff Yu, EMEA market strategist at Bank of New York Mellon.
“Furthermore, the dollar’s consequent strength from higher U.S. real yields represents a loosening in financial conditions for the euro zone and eases the pressure on the ECB to act. If anything, the ECB will hope to maintain the status quo for monetary policy in absolute and relative terms.”
The Aussie weakened 0.4% to $0.7691 after jumping 1% overnight, as a top central banker rebuffed market chatter about early rate increases, helping pull local yields lower.
New Zealand’s kiwi slipped 0.3% to $0.7153 following a 0.8% increase on Tuesday.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin traded flat at 54,910. It hit a record high of $58,354.14 on Feb. 21. (Reuters)
March
Russia's Sputnik V could be made in European Union after reported deals
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 could be produced in western Europe after a deal to make it in Italy was signed by Moscow’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund and Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Adienne.
The agreement, which will need approval from Italian regulators before production can be launched, has been confirmed by both RDIF, which markets Sputnik V internationally, and the Italian-Russian chamber of commerce.
Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF’s head, told Russian state TV his fund had also struck deals with production facilities in Spain, France and Germany to produce Sputnik. He did not provide details.
It is the latest indication that some companies could press ahead with plans without waiting for the European Union’s regulator -- the European Medicines Agency (EMA) -- to grant its approval to Sputnik V.
Scientists said the Russian vaccine was almost 92% effective, based on peer-reviewed late-stage trial results published in The Lancet medical journal last month.
Sputnik V has already been approved or is being assessed for approval in three EU member states - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. EU officials have said Brussels could start negotiations about a possible agreement to buy vaccines if at least four members request it.
ITALIAN BREAKTHROUGH?
The Italian-Russian chamber of commerce said on Monday that the Italian move paved the way for the creation of the first Sputnik V production facility in Europe outside Russia.
It said there were plans for Italian production to begin in June and that it hoped that 10 million doses of Sputnik V could be produced there by the end of the year.
"This agreement is the first of its kind with a European partner,” Vincenzo Trani, head of the chamber, said in the statement. “It can be called a historic event, which is proof of the good state of relations between our countries and shows that Italian companies can see beyond political differences.”
The Lugano-based Adienne Pharma & Biotech did not immediately respond to a request for comment. RDIF declined to provide further detail on the deal beyond confirming it.
The Italian industry ministry has played no role in the deal between RDIF and Adienne, a government source said, adding the ministry had not even been informed of the operation, which is “legitimate” and “in line with market dynamics”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Italy-related plan could help quickly satisfy demand for the shot abroad.
An EMA official urged EU members last week to refrain from approving Sputnik V at the national level while the agency was still reviewing it, prompting the vaccine’s developers to demand a public apology.
Peskov called the EMA official’s comment “inappropriate at the very least”.
A spokesman for Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Rome was not applying particular pressure on the EU to secure the approval of Sputnik V. He said Draghi had urged the bloc to pursue all possible options to secure vaccines approved by the EMA. (Reuters)
March
EU rejects accusations of 'vaccine nationalism'
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday rejected charges of “vaccine nationalism” levelled against the EU, saying that while Britain and the United States have outright bans on exports of COVID-19 shots, the EU had not stopped exporting.
The EU has found itself under fire at home for a vaccine roll-out much slower than those of former member Britain or the United States, and abroad for so far doing less than China, Russia or India to supply vaccines to poor countries.
Last week it annoyed vaccine buyers abroad by endorsing an Italian decision to halt a shipment to Australia.
Britain had a quick retort for the comments by Michel, who represents the 27 European Union member states, saying it has not blocked the export of a single COVID-19 vaccine.
“Any references to a UK export ban or any restrictions on vaccines are completely false,” a UK government spokesman said.
In a lengthy statement Michel laid out a defence of the bloc’s strategy. He said that without Europe, it would not have been possible to develop and produce several vaccines in less than a year, and EU solidarity had ensured that poorer countries of the bloc received their first doses.
He took aim at the “highly publicised” supply of vaccines by China and Russia to other countries.
“We should not let ourselves be misled by China and Russia, both regimes with less desirable values than ours, as they organise highly limited but widely publicised operations to supply vaccines to others.” Michel also noted that China and Russia had both vaccinated fewer people at home than the EU.
“Europe will not use vaccines for propaganda purposes. We promote our values,” he said.
Michel also defended a system to control the export of doses produced in EU countries, invoked by Italy last week to block a shipment of AstraZeneca shots to Australia.
“Our objective: to prevent companies from which we have ordered and pre-financed doses from exporting them to other advanced countries when they have not delivered to us what was promised,” Michel said. “The EU has never stopped exporting.”
He said the EU would become the world’s leading vaccine producer in the coming months and was the best equipped to adapt vaccine output quickly to virus mutations.
The British government’s rebuff of Michel’s comments came at a time of growing tensions between London and Brussels following the completion of Britain’s exit from the EU at the end of 2020.
Relations strained by years of bruising talks over Brexit took a turn for the worse in January when the EU briefly threatened to use emergency measures to stop coronavirus vaccines going from the bloc into Northern Ireland, a British-ruled province bordering EU member state Ireland.
“This pandemic is a global challenge and international collaboration on vaccine development continues to be an integral part of our response,” the British government spokesman said. (Reuters)
March
Biden to meet virtually Friday with leaders of Japan, India, Australia
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - U.S. President Joe Biden will participate in an online meeting on Friday with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia, the White House announced on Tuesday, the first leader-level meeting of a group seen as part of efforts to balance China’s growing military and economic power.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the meeting of the “quad” countries indicates the importance Biden places in U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
She said she expected a range of issues facing the global community to be discussed “from the threat of COVID, to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis”
India’s Foreign Ministry said the leaders would address “regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.”
It said the summit would also cover supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change.
The United States is looking to strengthen ties with key allies as China takes an increasingly assertive foreign policy approach in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere in the world.
India has urged the other Quad members to invest in its vaccine production capacity, in an attempt to counter China’s widening vaccine diplomacy.
The Indian statement said Quad leaders would discuss ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic and explore “opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Friday’s meeting will take place days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plan to visit Japan and South Korea later this month.
The visit by Blinken and Austin will be the first to the Asian allies by the top U.S. foreign policy and defense officials since the Biden administration took office in January. (Reuters)