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December
Travellers wait for their luggage at Changi Airport in Singapore. (File photo: iStock) -
Singapore has lifted its ban on passengers from 10 African countries from entering or transiting in the country, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said late on Sunday (Dec 26).
The countries are: Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
From 11.59pm on Sunday, passengers arriving in Singapore with travel history to these countries within the past 14 days will come under the country's Category IV border measures.
This means they must take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within two days before departure to Singapore, as well as an on-arrival PCR test. They will also have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility. Another PCR test will be administered at the end of their quarantine period.
Previously, long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to these African countries were not allowed to enter or transit following initial reports on Omicron cases there. Singapore citizens and permanent residents returning from these countries would have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility.
MOH said it initially addoped a "more cautious risk containment approach" to reduce the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant into Singapore.
"The Omicron variant has since spread widely around the world," it said, adding that Singapore is updating its travel restrictions accordingly.
"As the global situation evolves, we will continue to adjust our border measures in tandem with our roadmap to becoming a COVID-resilient nation."//CNA
December
Moscow considering NATO proposal to hold talks on Jan 12: TASS
Written by nuke
The Russian flag is seen through barbed wire as it flies on the roof of the Russian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, on Mar 26, 2018. (Photo: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich) -
Russia has received a NATO proposal to commence talks on Moscow's security concerns on Jan. 12 and is considering it, TASS news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying on Sunday (Dec 26).
Russia, which has unnerved the West with a troop buildup near Ukraine, last week unveiled a wish list of security proposals it wants to negotiate, including a promise NATO would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.
"We have already received this (NATO) offer, and we are considering it," TASS quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
The United States and Ukraine say Russia may be preparing an invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbour. Russia denies that and says it is Ukraine's growing relationship with NATO that has caused the standoff to escalate. It has compared it to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the world came to the brink of nuclear war.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia wanted to avoid conflict but needed an "immediate" response from the United States and its allies to its demands for security guarantees. Moscow has said it expects talks with US officials on the subject to start in January in Geneva.
US President Joe Biden's administration has said some of Russia's security proposals are obviously unacceptable, but that Washington will respond with more concrete ideas on the format of any talks.
In an interview on CBS' Face The Nation television show, Vice President Kamala Harris said Washington has been in direct conversations with Moscow about the issue and reiterated the US commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity.
"We've been very clear that we are prepared to issue sanctions like you've not seen before," Harris said, but declined to elaborate on the specifics of the sanctions.
The United States, the European Union and the Group of Seven have all warned Putin that he will face "massive consequences" including tough economic sanctions in the event of any new Russian aggression.
The Kremlin's demands contain elements - such as an effective Russian veto on future NATO membership for Ukraine - that the West has already ruled out.
Others would imply the removal of US nuclear weapons from Europe and the withdrawal of multinational NATO battalions from Poland and from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that were once in the Soviet Union.
A Biden administration official in a call with reporters on Friday said Washington has taken note of the concerns that Moscow has raised and was ready to engage with Russia as soon as early January but a specific date and location were yet to be set//CNA
December
Iran bars travellers from parts of Western Europe over Omicron fears
Written by nuke
A health officials check the body temperature of worshippers during Tehran's first Friday prayer after a nearly two-year break due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tehran, Iran, on Oct 22, 2021. (Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS) -
Iran has banned the entry of travellers from Britain, France, Denmark and Norway for 15 days as part of curbs following the discovery of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the Middle East's worst-hit country.
State television said on Sunday a similar ban imposed in late November on travellers from South Africa and seven neighbouring countries was also extended for 15 days.
Health authorities also indefinitely halted land travel to neighbouring Turkey, a popular tourist destination, the broadcaster said.
Iran, the pandemic's epicentre in the Middle East, has reported just 14 confirmed Omicron cases so far but media reports said detection kits were not widely available and officials have warned of a possible rapid spread within weeks.
The country has suffered 131,400 deaths in five waves of COVID-19 infections since February 2020.
Nearly 51.3 million of Iran's population of about 85 million have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine//CNA
December
Israeli hospital to give fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot in trial
Written by nuke
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the weekly cabinet meeting in Kibbutz Mevo Hama in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on Dec 26, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias) -
A major Israeli hospital will begin administering a fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot to 150 staff on Monday (Dec 27) in a trial aimed at gauging whether a second booster is necessary nationwide, the facility said on Sunday.
Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said its trial would shed light on the efficacy of a fourth dose and help decision-makers set health policy in Israel and abroad.
Israel has reported 1,118 confirmed cases of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, with the number of people infected by it doubling every two days.
A Health Ministry panel of experts has recommended offering a fourth dose of the Pfizer /BioNTech vaccine to Israelis aged 60 and over who received a booster shot at least four months ago.
But final approval by the ministry's director-general is still pending amid public debate as to whether sufficient scientific information is available to justify a new booster drive.
Sheba Medical Center did not say how long its trial would last.
"We will examine the fourth dose's effect on the level of antibodies and morbidity and we will gauge its safety," it quoted Gili Regev-Yochay, the study's director, as saying. "We will understand whether it is worthwhile to administer a fourth shot, and to whom."
The 150 Sheba medical workers taking part in the trial, which the hospital said had received Health Ministry approval, got booster shots no later than Aug 20.
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said he tested negative on Sunday for COVID-19 after his 14-year-old daughter was infected. It said he would self-isolate//CNA
December
Iran, Hezbollah aid Yemen rebel strikes: Saudi-led coalition
Written by nuke
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said during a press conference that the Huthi rebels were "militarising" th Yemen (Photo: SAUDI TV/AFP/-) -
The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday (Dec 26) accused Iran and Hezbollah of helping Yemen's Huthi rebels to launch missiles and drones at the kingdom, where two people were killed.
Since the coalition intervened almost seven years ago to support Yemen's government, Saudi Arabia has regularly accused Iran of supplying the Huthis with sophisticated weapons and Hezbollah of training the insurgents.
Tehran denies the charges. Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite militant movement Hezbollah has previously denied sending fighters or weapons to Yemen.
The latest Saudi accusation came as the coalition intensified an aerial bombing campaign against the Iran-backed Huthis in retaliation for deadly attacks on the kingdom.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki told a news conference the Huthis were "militarising" Sanaa airport and using it as a "main centre for launching ballistic missiles and drones" towards the kingdom.
Malki showed reporters a video clip which he said depicted "the headquarters of Iranian and Hezbollah experts at the airport" where, he alleged, "Hezbollah is training the Huthis to booby-trap and use drones".
Malki showed other clips which he said showed a Hezbollah member placing explosives in a drone, and a man he identified as a Hezbollah official telling Huthi members "we must strengthen our ranks".
The footage could not be independently verified.
The Arab military coalition led by Riyadh intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the internationally recognised government, a year after the Huthis overran the capital Sanaa.
Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed, in what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam and have their traditional stronghold in the mountainous north of Yemen.
Between 2004 and 2010, they fought six wars against Yemen's then-government and battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border.
The deaths of two people overnight Friday from a rebel missile strike on the Saudi city of Jazan were the first such deaths in the kingdom in three years.
On Sunday, Malki said the international community must "stop hostile acts by this terrorist organisation," a reference to Hezbollah.
Since January 2018, he said, the Huthis have launched 430 ballistic missiles and 850 drones towards Saudi Arabia.
Earlier Sunday the coalition said it had struck a Huthi rebel camp in Sanaa, destroying weapons warehouses.
On Saturday, the coalition launched what it called a "large-scale" military operation against the Huthis after the rebel missile strike that hit Jazan.
The coalition raids left three civilians dead, including a child and a woman, Yemeni medics told AFP.
Rights groups have criticised the coalition for civilian casualties in its years-long aerial bombardment.
The coalition maintains its operations are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law, repeatedly urging the Huthis against using civilians as human shields.
Malki also accused Iran's ambassador to Sanaa, who died of COVID-19 last week after his evacuation from Yemen, of "leading the planning of military operations in Marib" - the Yemeni government's last stronghold in the north.
The Huthis warned in a statement that they will "face escalation with escalation".
World powers and the kingdom's Gulf Arab allies condemned the rebels' deadly strike on Saudi Arabia.
"Huthi attacks are perpetuating the conflict, prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people, and endangering the Saudi people alongside more than 70,000 US citizens residing in Saudi Arabia," Washington's embassy to Riyadh said in a statement.
Ludovic Pouille, the French ambassador to Riyadh, on Twitter offered condolences to families of the victims of the "barbaric Huthi attack".
The coalition has intensified its air strikes on Sanaa, including last week on what it called "military targets" at the airport.
United Nations aid flights were interrupted as a result.
The insurgents often launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia aimed at its airports and oil infrastructure.
The UN's World Food Programme said it has been "forced" to cut aid to Yemen due to lack of funds, and warned of a surge in hunger//CNA
December
Climate crisis puts oil in the crosshairs, but dependence persists
Written by nuke
Reducing the dependence of the global economy on oil is a colossal task. (Photo: AFP/David McNew) -
The climate crisis has put the end of oil onto the agenda, but achieving that is a colossal task given the world economy's deep dependence on petroleum.
"In 2021, several developments showed clearly that (the petroleum) industry doesn't have a future," said Romain Ioualalen at the activist group Oil Change International.
The International Energy Agency warned in May that an immediate halt to new investment in fossil projects is needed if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to stand any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The call was a revolution for an agency created in the wake of the first 1970 oil shock to protect the energy security of rich, oil-consuming nations.
Another major moment in 2021 was the emergence at the COP 26 climate summit in Glasgow of a coalition of nations that pledged to phase out oil and gas production, although no major oil and gas producing nation joined that group.
"It is no longer taboo to talk about the end of the extraction of hydrocarbons during international climate summits," said Oil Change International's Ioualalen.
And fossil fuels - which still represent 80 per cent of energy consumed - were explicitly blamed for driving climate change, which was not the case when the Paris climate pact was reached in 2015.
More recently, environmental defenders scored a symbolic victory when oil giant Shell decided to exit the development of the controversial Cambo oil field off Scotland saying the investment case was "not strong enough".
"We've known for several years that the end of crude oil ... is near," said Moez Ajmi, an energy specialist at professional services firm EY.
"But is the world ready to live without oil? It is still very dependent in my view."
The IEA also believes that oil demand is still set to rise. It expects it to reach its pre-pandemic level of just under 100 million barrels per day next year.
With crude prices having rebounded in the past months, oil producers are rolling in cash and can afford to pursue new projects.
"Any talk of the oil and gas industries being consigned to the past and halting new investments in oil and gas is misguided," OPEC leader Mohammed Barkindo said recently.
The head of French oil firm TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, said he's "convinced the transition will take place because there is a real awareness, but it will take time."
He believes the issue is being approached from the wrong end. Instead of focussing on reducing oil, attention should be shifted towards consumption.
Demand for fossil fuels "will decline because consumers have access to new products like electric vehicles," said Pouyanne.
In the first half of the year, electric vehicles accounted for 7 per cent of global auto sales, according to BloombergNEF. While that is still a small percentage, it is growing fast.
Oil Change International's Ioualalen said that arguments put forward by oil companies and producing nations are cynical and focus on the short term.
"They're trying to justify an unsustainable trajectory at any cost," he said.
"We're still far from a decarbonised economy, of course, but it is the energy system investments that are made today that will lead us there," said Ioualalen.
Whatever the horizon for the end of petroleum, industry players are still only willy-nilly preparing for it as pressure upon them mounts.
US oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron were long holdouts but finally announced this year investments into the energy transition.
"2022 has the potential to be a truly transformational year," said Tom Ellacott, senior vice president for corporate analysis at energy research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.
"It's clear that sitting on the decarbonisation sidelines isn't an option" given the increasing pressure on the oil industry.
Experts believe that 2022 will see more investment in wind and solar power as well as technology to capture carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and factories//CNA
December
More than 100 Japan flights cancelled due to heavy snow
Written by nuke
Heavy snow in northern Japan caused transport chaos over the holiday weekend -
More than 100 domestic flights in Japan were grounded on Sunday (Dec 26) due to heavy snow in the northern and western parts of the country, Japan's two biggest airlines said.
ANA Holdings had halted 79 flights as of 4pm local time (3pm Singapore time), affecting about 5,100 passengers, said Hiroaki Hayakawa, an operations director for the airline.
Japan Airlines Co had cancelled 49 flights as of 4pm local time, affecting 2,460 passengers, a representative with the airline's operations division said.
Worldwide, thousands of flights have been cancelled over the Christmas weekend because of the rapid spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Japan, which tightened border controls to counter the threat from Omicron, has reported only about a dozen cases of community spread of the new variant and 231 total Omicron infections, including overseas arrivals, according to the health ministry//CNA
December
China central bank says to promote healthy development of property market
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks walk past the headquarters of Chinese central bank People's Bank of China (PBOC), April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang -
China's central bank has vowed to promote healthy development of the country's real estate market, saying it will safeguard the legal rights of home buyers and better satisfy their reasonable living needs.
The statement from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), made following its fourth-quarter monetary policy committee meeting on Saturday, is the latest sign that Chinese regulators are marginally easing curbs on the property sector to prevent a hard-landing.
Echoing China's annual Central Economic Work Conference held in early December, the PBOC said it will prioritise economic stability, amid an increasingly severe external environment and the unrelenting global pandemic.
"The PBOC...turned more cautious on its growth outlook, indicated an intention to use broad and targeted policy tools to support the real economy in a more pro-active manner, and on the margin eased its tone on the property sector," said analysts at Goldman Sachs in a note on Sunday.
"We expect the central bank to inject more long-term liquidity via RRR cuts and various lending facilities, on-budget fiscal expenditures to be more supportive to growth compared with 2021, and local governments to ease property policies at local levels."
The PBOC said it will keep its monetary policy flexible and appropriate, and liquidity reasonably ample. It will strengthen support to the real economy, with a bias toward small companies.
The central bank reiterated that it will deepen reforms of the forex market and increase the flexibility of the yuan's exchange rate while guiding companies and financial institutions to be "risk neutral"//CNA
December
First Omicron COVID-19 case detected in Gaza, Palestinians say
Written by nuke
A Palestinian woman wearing on a protective face mask speaks on her phone as she stands next to a coronavirus-themed mural in Gaza City on Nov 22, 2020. (File photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem) -
The Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday (Dec 26) it had identified the first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the Gaza Strip.
The carrier is a Gaza resident who was infected within the coastal territory, ministry official Majdi Dhair told a news conference.
Dhair said this meant the variant, first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong last month, existed in Gaza and was now spreading among the population. The discovery poses a new challenge to the enclave's under-developed health system.
"We are ahead of difficult days. It is expected that the Omicron variant will spread fast," he told reporters.
Gaza, with a population of 2.2 million people, has registered 189,837 COVID-19 infections and 1,691 deaths.
Dhair urged Gazans to get vaccinated, putting the percentage of those who had already received shots at around 40 per cent.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, three cases of Omicron variant had been detected among Palestinians on Dec 16 and the number had since risen to 23 among the 3.1 million population, Palestinian health authorities said//CNA
December
Malaysia’s COVID-19 app MySejahtera introduces Bluetooth contact tracing feature
Written by nuke
MySejahtera is Malaysia's COVID-19 contact tracing app. (File photo: Bernama) -
Malaysia’s COVID-19 mobile application on Sunday (Dec 26) introduced a new feature that enables close contact tracing via Bluetooth.
MySejahtera Trace will provide live information on interactions with other users who also activate the new feature, Health Ministry Khairy Jamaluddin said in a post on Twitter.
“If you are confirmed positive, you can send the interaction data to the Ministry of Health for contact tracking process to be made. All interaction data is anonymised," he added.
Khairy encouraged members of the public to use the new feature when indoor at public places, adding that the checkout feature in MySejahtera is no longer applicable.
"It can now be updated on Huawei. For Google and Apple, still waiting for them to list this new update,” he wrote.
In a separate update, Khairy on Saturday confirmed that Malaysia has reported a total of 62 COVID-19 Omicron cases to date. Of these, 61 were imported infections with the remaining case suspected to be a local transmission.
Among the 49 most recent Omicron cases detected in Malaysia, 30 had returned from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah//CNA