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December
Myanmar says to accept Renminbi for settlements, stresses China ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's military government said on Wednesday it would pilot accepting Renminbi as an official settlement currency for cross-border trade next year and that restarting development projects with neighbouring China was a "major priority".
Myanmar's junta, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, said it enjoyed a special "kinship" with China which has supported it financially and with COVID-19 vaccines.
The statement issued by the ministries of information and investment identified several joint projects with China that the government is seeking to push ahead, including plans for railways and ports.
It said the economic downturn this year was "much less severe than forecasts of some international economists". (reuters)
December
Philippine supertyphoon Rai 'exceeded all predictions' - forecaster
Written by Nur Yasmin
The rapid intensification that turned this week's Typhoon Rai into the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year surpassed all predictions, forecasters said, leaving nearly 400 people dead and almost a million displaced.
While it's unclear exactly how global warming is affecting the intensification of such storms, the UN's climate change agency has found it is "likely that the frequency of rapid intensification events have increased over the past four decades" as temperatures rise.
Before Rai underwent a process of rapid intensification, forecasters at first warned of a storm that could bring "considerable damage", with winds of up to 165 kilometres (103 miles) per hour.
"But the situation evolved very fast," said Nikos Peñaranda, a forecaster who studies thunderstorms at the Philippines' national weather bureau, speaking on Tuesday. "Our models weren't able to predict the way the storm intensified, and it exceeded all our predictions."
In rapid intensification of storms, warm ocean water and differing wind speeds near the eye of the storm act as fuel to whip it up into a more severe event. In the case of Rai, the storm turned into a category 5 supertyphoon, with speeds similar to when a passenger airplane starts to lift off the ground.
When it made landfall, winds of up to 210 km/hr were uprooting coconut trees, ripping down electricity poles, and hurling slabs of corrugated tin and wood through the air.
A lack of real-time data and case studies of similar storms in the region made it difficult for forecasters to predict just how much Rai, or Odette as the storm is known locally, would intensify, said Peñaranda.
"The challenge in forecasting rapidly intensifying events is just that the speed with which this occurs, often in a matter of hours, leaves less time for disaster risk reduction mobilisation and evacuations," said Clare Nullis, media officer specializing in climate change at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm, experienced a similar intensification in the Gulf of Mexico hours before it slammed into the U.S. state of Louisiana in August.
Ocean temperatures near the surface and at depths of up to 200 metres are rising around three times faster in this region than the global average, according to the WMO, making it fertile ground for more intense, less predictable storms.
In the past three decades, the Philippines has recorded at least 205 tropical cyclones, the highest of any Asian country, according to EM-DAT, a publicly available database on disasters run by the University of Louvain. Nearly each one of has taken lives and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.
By comparison, China, the second-most affected country, has seen 139, and Bangladesh, also prone to storms, has seen 42. (Reuters)
December
Myanmar rebel group calls for no-fly zone to protect civilians
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's oldest rebel force wants international help to establish a "no-fly zone" near the Thai border, after warning there was a danger of clashes with the army resulting in civilians being targeted by air strikes.
There has been an escalation in fighting recently between the army and the Karen National Union (KNU), prompting thousands of people to seek refuge in Thailand.
About 3,400 people have taken shelter in Thailand over recent days, Thai authorities said. Thousands more are stranded on the Myanmar side of the border, waiting to cross.
In a statement released this week, the KNU warned of a "high possibility" of military air strikes on civilians.
"These air strikes won't target military bases but civilian bases as in schools, hospitals, houses and villages," the head of the KNU's foreign affairs department, Saw Taw Nee, told Reuters, citing his experience from previous bouts of fighting.
A spokesman for Myanmar's military junta did not answer calls seeking comment.
The KNU urged the international community to identify a no-fly zone by seeking an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council, in a rare statement that was agreed by its 15 members, expressed concern over violence across Myanmar and urged the military to exercise utmost restraint.
International efforts to end the conflict in Myanmar since a February coup have been limited to diplomatic initiatives and attempts to exert economic pressure through Western sanctions.
Since the military overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed by the security forces.
The military has said the figures from AAPP, a monitoring group cited by the United Nations, are exaggerated.
The KNU agreed to a ceasefire in 2012, ending an insurgency for self-determination that began soon after Myanmar gained independence in 1948, but its forces have been clashing with the army since the coup and it has allowed opponents of the coup to take shelter in territory it controls.
The latest fighting had been triggered by the army's attempts to arrest people in the Lay Kay Kaw area, said Saw Taw Nee.
"They came and checked on the town which we allow. However, they didn't keep their promise and arrested people which we totally don't accept," he said.
The KNU said three of its fighters and 15 government soldiers had been killed in the clashes. Reuters could not independently verify the account. (Reuters)
December
Japan reports first case of community spread of Omicron
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan reported on Wednesday its first instance of community spread infection from the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Health minister Shigeyuki Goto said three infections of the Omicron variant in the prefecture of Osaka were a cases of community transfer because the infection route was not clear.
The cases are from the same family and none of the people traveled abroad, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told a coronavirus policy meeting on Wednesday.
"I believe this counts as a case of community transfer. I think this will become the first in Osaka prefecture, and the first in the country," Yoshimura said.
As Omicron fears grow, the world's third-largest economy has tightened up border restrictions and promised to speed up booster shots.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday said its COVID-19 border controls, some of the strictest in the world, would remain in place for the time being. read more
Japan has had 1.73 million coronavirus infections and 18,391 deaths since the pandemic began, but the rate of new infections has been falling. (Reuters)
December
WEF annual meeting will take place in Davos -founder
Written by Nur Yasmin
The World Economic Forum (WEF) will hold its postponed 2022 annual meeting in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, WEF founder Klaus Schwab said in a newspaper interview, quashing speculation it could again seek a different venue than its traditional home.
"It will take place in Davos," Schwab told the Blick tabloid in the interview published on Wednesday when asked whether the WEF might again consider Singapore as a venue for the event that attracts the business and political elite.
Organisers had shifted the planned 2021 venue to a mountaintop conference centre in central Switzerland and then to Singapore before abandoning it altogether amid the pandemic.
The WEF on Monday postponed the next annual meeting until mid-2022 due to the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Reuters)
December
Thailand reinstates mandatory COVID-19 quarantine over Omicron concerns
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thailand will reinstate its mandatory COVID-19 quarantine for foreign visitors and scrap a quarantine waiver from Tuesday due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The decision to halt Thailand's "Test and Go" waiver means visitors will have to undergo hotel quarantine, which ranges between 7 to 10 days.
Meanwhile, a so-called "sandbox" programme, which requires visitors to remain in a specific location but allows them free movement outside of their accommodation, will also be suspended in all places except for the tourist resort island of Phuket.
"After Dec. 21, there will be no new registrations for 'Test and Go', only quarantine or Phuket sandbox," said deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhanadirek.
The announcement came a day after Thailand reported the first case of local transmission of the Omicron variant. read more
It also came weeks after Thailand reopened to foreign visitors in November, ending nearly 18 months of strict entry policies that contributed to a collapse in tourism, a key industry and economic driver that drew 40 million visitors in 2019.
About 200,000 visitors who had previously registered for the quarantine waiver and sandbox programme will still be eligible, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
"This is not to shut off tourists but to temporarily suspend arrivals," he said.
The decision will be reviewed on Jan. 4, he added. (Reuters)
December
Food running out, Philippine typhoon survivors warn
Written by Nur Yasmin
Philippine officials and residents of areas that bore the brunt of Typhoon Rai pleaded for food, water, and shelter on Tuesday as damaged roads, flooding, and severed power and communication lines hampered relief efforts.
Rai struck last Thursday, the strongest typhoon to hit the archipelago this year, killing nearly 400 people and affecting 1.8 million, displacing 630,000 of them, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"Our food supply is running low. Maybe, in a few days, we will totally run out," said Fely Pedrablanca mayor of Tubajon town on Dinagat Island.
The area, facing the Pacific Ocean, was devastated by the typhoon and she said only nine out of more than 2,000 homes in her town were left standing.
The coast guard has deployed vessels to help in relief work and in trying to reach areas still cut-off, while the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) planned to ferry people to safety, including foreign tourists stranded on the holiday island of Siargao.
"We're fighting a tremendous disaster. It's Haiyan all over again," PRC Chairman Richard Gordon told Reuters, referring to one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013..
In the province of Southern Leyte, evacuation centres were also destroyed, said Roger Mercado, acting chief of the public works agency, as he appealed for tents and construction material.
Damage to infrastructure in Southern Leyte, where residents were also in desperate need of food and water, could reach 3 billion pesos ($60.14 million), Mercado told DZMM radio.
At least 375 people were killed and 56 are missing. More than 500 were injured, police said on Tuesday.
"The government prepositioned food and non-food items but they are not enough because many are in need," Danilo Atienza, Southern Leyte's disaster chief, told Reuters.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered state agencies to restore power and communications as he promised 10 billion pesos ($200 million) for recovery efforts.
Foreign aid has also started to arrive including from Japan and China, while the United Nations said it was working with partners to help in the areas of shelter, health, food, protection and other life-saving responses. (reuters)
December
Thailand reinstates mandatory COVID-19 quarantine over Omicron concerns
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thailand will reinstate its mandatory COVID-19 quarantine for foreign visitors and scrap a quarantine waiver from Tuesday due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The decision to halt Thailand's "Test and Go" waiver means visitors will have to undergo hotel quarantine, which ranges between 7 to 10 days.
Meanwhile, a so-called "sandbox" programme, which requires visitors to remain in a specific location but allows them free movement outside of their accommodation, will also be suspended in all places except for the tourist resort island of Phuket.
"After Dec. 21, there will be no new registrations for 'Test and Go', only quarantine or Phuket sandbox," said deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhanadirek.
The announcement came a day after Thailand reported the first case of local transmission of the Omicron variant. read more
It also came weeks after Thailand reopened to foreign visitors in November, ending nearly 18 months of strict entry policies that contributed to a collapse in tourism, a key industry and economic driver that drew 40 million visitors in 2019.
About 200,000 visitors who had previously registered for the quarantine waiver and sandbox programme will still be eligible, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
"This is not to shut off tourists but to temporarily suspend arrivals," he said.
The decision will be reviewed on Jan. 4, he added. (Reuters)
December
Japan's Kishida sends message to shareholders: raise wages
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday called on shareholders to recognise the importance of raising wages, making a clear push to address one of the chronic ailments of the world's no.3 economy: low pay.
Kishida also told a news conference that he would compile a policy package on Dec. 27 to allow small firms to pass on the cost wage hikes, adding it was important to take every possible step to encourage companies to raise wages.
After years of deflation, Japanese companies are wary of hiking prices for fear of losing customers and market share. Instead, they have typically turned to belt-tightening to keep costs down, leaving them with razor-thin margins and employees with flat pay.
Kishida, who has called for a "new capitalism", has made low wages one of his biggest points and called for a redistribution of wealth.
"Paying an appropriate salary provides the foundation of creation of sustainable corporate value. We need to make large shareholders of a company understand this point," Kishida said.
Kishida was speaking a day after parliament approved the first extra budget of the 2021 fiscal year, with record spending of $317 billion.
The 36 trillion yen ($317 billion) budget earmarks funds for tackling COVID-19, including to secure vaccines and drugs, while it also features cash payouts for families with children and funds for the promotion of tourism.
He said Japan's COVID-19 border controls, some of the strictest in the world, would remain in place for the time being.
Kishida late last month took the drastic step of closing Japan's borders to new foreign entrants for about a month in light of the global emergence of the Omicron variant.
"It has not yet been established scientifically how transmissible Omicron is and how likely it is for those who are contracted with the variant to become seriously ill," Kishida said.
"Therefore, I have decided to extend the border control steps for the time being, so we can observe how the situation develop in the year-end and new-year periods."
Kishida also said he would make arrangements so that Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) coronavirus oral drugs would be available early next year.
Kishida said on Friday that he had arranged to secure 2 million doses of Pfizer's antiviral pill. That's on top of the 1.6 million doses of Merck & Co's (MRK.N) COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, that the government had already secured. (Reuters)
December
Bigger fries off the menu as Japan McDonald's faces supply crunch
Written by Nur Yasmin
McDonald's Holdings Company Japan (2702.T) said on Tuesday it would suspend the sale of medium- and large-sized french fries for a week starting on Friday due to supply chain bottlenecks.
The company is seeing delays in potato shipments due to supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as from shipping disruptions in Canada. The potatoes used for the french fries are imported from North America, it said.
The popular fast-food company said french fries in small sizes will continue to be on sale.
The company did not quantify the financial impact of the temporary suspension. (Reuters)