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March
Officials says vaccine link uncertain after Hong Kong man dies two days after COVID-19 jab
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 3 - A 63-year-old man in Hong Kong died two days after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine shot, the Department of Health said in a statement, although it was uncertain if there was a direct ink between his death and the shot for coronavirus.
The statement came after several media outlets reported a 63-year-old man who received China’s Sinovac shot on Feb. 26 died two days afterward. The Department of Health said the man developed acute breathing difficulties and died on Feb. 28.
It did not say which vaccine the man received.
It said it had contacted the Hospital Authority for more information and evaluation. The authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Global health authorities have praised the fast development of safe and effective COVID vaccines, but have warned people with serious underlying health conditions to take medical advice first. (Reuters)
March
U.S. understanding is Myanmar ambassador to UN remains in position: State Department
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 3 - The U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said that the United States understanding is that Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York Kyaw Moe Tun remains in position despite an attempt by the junta to install his deputy.
Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country, a day after he urged countries to use “any means necessary” to reverse a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the nation’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Reuters)
March
OPEC president says oil market rebalancing, pandemic still a risk
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 2 - The global oil market is rebalancing after damage to demand wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic was met with curbs on output by producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the group’s president said on Tuesday.
“Crude prices are relatively stable ... we see a certain balance between demand and supply,” OPEC president Diamantino Azevedo told Reuters in an interview.
“However, due to the pandemic situation the world is living through and with new waves arriving, we could have a situation of smaller demand due to confinements. Vaccination of the global population against COVID-19 will certainly increase demand”.
OPEC and other key exporters such as Russia, a grouping dubbed OPEC+, meet on Thursday and are expected to discuss allowing as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) back into the market to address demand likely to be unlocked later in the year as vaccine programmes gather pace.
But Azevedo, Angola’s minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, who occupies OPEC’s rotating presidency, warned that any worsening of the pandemic could lead producers to tamp down output.
“The production levels that were desirable at the time of the latest adjustment could naturally be affected downward due to... the COVID-19 pandemic and its variants,” he added.
Azevedo insisted that foreign interest in developing oil resources in Angola, Africa’s second-biggest exporter, remains high after cratering oil prices briefly led a halt on oil drilling in the depths of the pandemic last year.
“We don’t have any (energy) major planning to leave Angola at the moment,” he said. “Although there is a drop in investment globally, investors in Angola are interested in keeping the same level of investment.”
Crude production from Angola’s existing fields, which has been declining since 2008, is due to dwindle to almost nothing by 2040, according to government projections.
It has pinned its hopes on keeping international partners engaged to avoid its offshore oil and gas resources turning into stranded assets, though there is a risk the industry, increasingly sensitive to environmental concerns, may seek greener projects elsewhere.
“We’ll do everything to keep our industry attractive,” Azevedo said. (Reuters)
March
New WTO chief calls for tripling of vaccine production
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 2 - The new chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO) urged its member states on Monday to work with pharmaceutical companies to license more COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in developing countries in order to triple global production.
“People are dying in poor countries,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on her first day in office. “The world has a normal capacity of production of 3.5 billion doses of vaccines and we now seek to manufacture 10 billion doses.”
Her call comes as a group of developing countries led by South Africa and India seek to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, a move opposed by the United States, the European Union and other wealthy nations.
Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s first female and first African director-general, said that, while this debate continued, companies must be encouraged to open up and license more viable manufacturing sites now in developing countries.
In a speech to the WTO’s 164 member states, she said there was an upcoming world manufacturing convention and urged the start of dialogue with manufacturers associations.
After a long campaign that was derailed in the latter stages by a Trump administration veto, the 66-year-old Nigerian was confirmed as boss last month, pledging to “forget business as usual” at the WTO, which is struggling to strike new deals and whose arbitration functions are paralysed.
“READY TO GO”
“It feels great. I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do. I feel ready to go,” Okonjo-Iweala told a reporter on arrival at the WTO’s lakeside Geneva headquarters where she donned a mask and elbow-bumped officials.
The former Nigerian finance and foreign minister aims to revive the global trade watchdog ahead of a major year-end meeting, saying she feared the world was leaving the WTO behind.
WTO delegates agreed to hold the next major ministerial conference in Geneva from Nov. 29.
The meeting was originally due to be held in Kazakhstan in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Okonjo-Iweala has said she hopes ministers at the year-end meeting can finalise deals on ending fisheries subsidies and reforms for the WTO’s top appeals body which was paralysed by the Trump administration.
Since the WTO director-general holds few executive powers, some analysts question her ability to revive the body in the face of so many challenges, including persistent U.S.-China trade tensions and growing protectionism heightened by the pandemic. (Reuters)
March
Russia launches satellite to monitor climate in Arctic
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 2 - Russia launched its space satellite Arktika-M on Sunday on a mission to monitor the climate and environment in the Arctic amid a push by the Kremlin to expand the country’s activities in the region.
The Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average over the last three decades and Moscow is seeking to develop the energy-rich region, investing in the Northern Sea Route for shipping across its long northern flank as ice melts.
The satellite successfully reached its intended orbit after being launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome by a Soyuz rocket, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, said in a post on Twitter.
Russia plans to send up a second satellite in 2023 and, combined, the two will offer round-the-clock, all-weather monitoring of the Arctic Ocean and the surface of the Earth, Roscosmos said.
The Arktika-M will have a highly elliptical orbit that passes high over northern latitudes allowing it to monitor northern regions for lengthy periods before it loops back down under Earth.
At the right orbit, the satellite will be able to monitor and take images every 15-30 minutes of the Arctic, which can’t be continuously observed by satellites that orbit above the Earth’s equator, Roscosmos said.
The satellite will also be able to retransmit distress signals from ships, aircraft or people in remote areas as part of the international Cospas-Sarsat satellite-based search and rescue programme, Roscosmos said.
“As more activity takes place in the Arctic and as it moves into higher latitudes, improving weather and ice forecasting abilities is crucial,” said Mia Bennett, a geographer at the University of Hong Kong.
“There is also an element of data nationalism that is feeding into all this. Countries, especially those that see themselves as space powers, want to be able to rely on their own satellites and data to inform their activities, whether commercial or military in nature,” she said. (Reuters)
March
U.S. to push for 'intense' U.N. Security Council talks on Myanmar
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 2 - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday she hopes to use Washington’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council in March to push for more “intense discussions” on Myanmar.
Myanmar’s elected civilian government was ousted in a military coup on Feb. 1. Myanmar’s U.N. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun appealed to the United Nations on Friday “to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military” to restore democracy to the Southeast Asian country.
“I hope to use our time as president of the council to push for more intense discussions,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters, adding that she planned to have a Security Council discussion on Myanmar “sooner rather than later.”
The Security Council voiced concern - in a statement last month - over a state of emergency imposed by the Myanmar military for one year, but stopped short of condemning the coup due to opposition by Russia and China.
Police in Myanmar have dispersed protests against the coup with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets. On Sunday, police fired on crowds in several places, killing 18 people, the U.N. human rights office said.
Thomas-Greenfield said Washington was ready to use its renewed engagement at the United Nations and internationally “to press the military to reverse its actions and restore a democratically elected government.”
“But the violence we’re seeing happening now does not indicate that they’re ready to make what I would consider an easy decision for them to make,” she said. “So we do have to ramp up the pressure.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged to mobilize global pressure “to make sure that this coup fails.”
Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country. He told Reuters: “I decided to fight back as long as I can.”
The United Nations does not officially recognize the junta as Myanmar’s new government as it has received no official notification of any change in government or U.N. representation.
“We have not received any communication concerning changes in the representation of Myanmar here at the U.N. in New York,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday. “And nor have our colleagues in protocol received any information from the Permanent Mission in Myanmar on any changes in the government.” (Reuters)
March
China to provide Afghanistan with 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 1 - China has pledged to deliver 400,000 doses of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said on Monday, in a boost for an immunisation campaign begun last week.
“China’s ambassador to Kabul said in a meeting with health officials that his country would provide Afghanistan with 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, the health ministry’s head of the immunisation programme, told Reuters.
The Sinopharm vaccine produced in China has been approved by the World Health Organization, but it is unclear when it will be delivered, Nazari said.
So far just over 12,000 health workers have received the vaccine in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, he said.
The vaccination of members of the security forces has also begun, according to another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Afghan government forces are facing intensified attacks, blamed on Taliban insurgents, since September, when the two sides entered U.S.-brokered peace talks hosted by Qatar. The Taliban has largely denied responsibility for the rash of violence. The militant group has also said it supports the vaccination campaign.
Afghanistan has already received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, which enabled the nation to launch its vaccination drive last Tuesday.
Afghan health officials have said that the international COVAX programme, which is aimed at improving access to the COVID-19 vaccine for developing countries, would provide vaccines to cover 20% of the country’s 38 million population.
Afghanistan has registered 55,733 infections and 2,444 deaths. But experts say cases are significantly under-reported due to low testing and limited access to medical facilities in the war-torn country. (Reuters)
March
Foreign journalists in China see 'rapid decline in media freedom': survey
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 1 - China used coronavirus prevention measures, intimidation and visa curbs to limit foreign reporting in 2020, ushering in a “rapid decline in media freedom,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said on Monday.
For the third year in a row, no journalists told the group that working conditions had improved, the FCCC said in an annual report based on 150 responses to a survey of correspondents and interviews with bureau chiefs.
“All arms of state power - including surveillance systems introduced to curb coronavirus - were used to harass and intimidate journalists, their Chinese colleagues, and those whom the foreign press sought to interview,” it said.
Authorities cited public health concerns to deny reporters access to sensitive areas and threatened them with enforced quarantine, it added. Visa restrictions were also used to put pressure on reporting.
At least 13 correspondents were given press credentials valid for 6 months or less, the FCCC said. Foreign reporters based in China typically receive one-year visas and must renew them annually.
Journalists were also used as “pawns” in China’s diplomatic disputes, it added.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that the report’s claims were “baseless”.
“We always welcome media and journalists from all countries to cover news in China according to the law ... what we oppose is ideological bias against China and fake news in the name of press freedom,” he said, at a daily news briefing.
China expelled more than a dozen foreign journalists at U.S. media organizations in 2020, amid a series of tit-for-tat actions between the countries. Washington also slashed the number of journalists permitted to work in the United States at four major Chinese state-owned media outlets.
In September, Australia helped two of its foreign correspondents leave China after they were questioned by the country’s state security ministry.
Journalists reporting from far western Xinjiang, where China has been accused of large-scale human rights abuses, encountered especially intense harassment, the report said.
Last year Chinese authorities detained Cheng Lei, an Australian citizen working for Chinese state media, and later Haze Fan, a Chinese national working for Bloomberg News, both on suspicion of endangering national security.
Both remain in detention.
Some Reuters journalists are members of the FCCC. (Reuters)
March
ASEAN foreign ministers to meet on Myanmar on Tuesday: Singapore minister
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 1 - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) foreign ministers will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss Myanmar, Singapore’s foreign minister said, calling for the immediate release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“A special ASEAN foreign ministers meeting will be convened via video conference tomorrow and where we will listen to the representative of the Myanmar military authorities,” Vivian Balakrishnan said in parliament on Monday.
He also called on the Myanmar military authorities to desist from the use of lethal force, “and to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation to prevent further bloodshed, violence and deaths.”
On Monday, protesters in Myanmar marched in defiance of a crackdown by security forces that killed at least 18 people the previous day.
He also urged all parties in Myanmar to engage in discussions to find long-term political solutions, including a way to return to the path of democratic transition.
“We believe this can only begin if President Win Myint, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, and the other political detainees are immediately released,” he told parliament.
A Myanmar court has filed two more charges against Suu Kyi, according to a lawyer acting for her.
Last week, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met Myanmar’s military-appointed foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, and Thai counterpart, Don Pramudwinai, for talks in Bangkok.
The initial efforts led by Indonesia to resolve the crisis have raised suspicion among Myanmar democracy activists who fear dealing with the junta would confer legitimacy on it and its bid to scrap the November election that Suu Kyi won. (Reuters)
March
Palm oil in focus as Swiss vote on trade pact with Indonesia
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 1 - Swiss voters will decide on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Indonesia on Sunday, with lower tariffs on palm oil imports the main issue in what the polls predict will be a tight referendum.
The Alpine country signed the pact with Indonesia in 2018 together with the other European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
Under the FTA, both parties will gradually reduce or abolish import duties on industrial products. For palm oil, Switzerland will reduce tariffs by about 20%-40% for up to 12,500 tonnes per year, but only if sustainability standards are met.
Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil, which is used in cosmetics, food products and biofuels. Palm oil has faced scrutiny from green activists and consumers, who hold it responsible for forest loss, fires and worker exploitation.
The Swiss parliament ratified the deal in 2019, but the “Stop Palm Oil” movement - backed by the Greens as well as environmentalist and anti-globalisation NGOs - called a referendum under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.
In the latest poll by market researcher GFS Bern for broadcaster SRG, 52% of voters said they intended to back the deal.
“I oppose free trade agreements because they eliminate customs duties that are there to prevent unfair competition from low-cost countries,” said Willy Cretegny, an organic wine producer in western Switzerland who initiated the referendum.
“They lead to a throwaway society that wastes resources. Standards to protect the environment or people’s health and safety also disappear along the way,” he said.
The referendum committee said the deal would boost demand for cheap palm oil, destroying tropical forests and hitting Swiss rapeseed and sunflower oil production.
The government recommends the FTA, saying it would give Switzerland’s export-oriented economy better access to growth market Indonesia while promoting more sustainable palm oil production as only certified oil could enjoy tariff reductions.
Switzerland has more than 30 free trade agreements with countries outside the European Union and EFTA. The European Union is also negotiating a trade deal with Indonesia. (Reuters)