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October
China warns Lithuania, European officials over Taiwan row
Written by nuke
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attends a news conference in Beijing, China, Nov 9, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang) -
China on Saturday (Oct 30) warned Lithuania and European officials not to disrupt ties over decisions by Taiwan and the Baltic country to open reciprocal representative offices.
China demanded in August that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall China's envoy to Vilnius after Taiwan announced that its office in Vilnius would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.
Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding a reference to the island itself, which China claims as its own territory.
Lithuania said earlier this year it planned to open a representative office in Taiwan, a decision that also angered Beijing.
China "resolutely opposes" official contacts between countries that have diplomatic relations with China and authorities in Taiwan, Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on its website.
"We urge the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitments made when establishing diplomatic relations with China and not to make irreversible wrong decisions," Wang said.
"The European side should adopt a correct position and prevent interference with the healthy development of China-EU relations."
China's Xinhua official news agency said Wang's comments followed a joint letter from the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission expressing concern over China's criticisms of the representative offices//CNA
October
UN calls for education in conflict, condemns attacks
Written by nuke
Norway's Ambassador Mona Juul speaks in the Security Council at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Apr 29, 2019. (File photo: AP/Richard Drew) -
The UN Security Council has strongly condemned attacks on schools, teachers and children and called on all parties to promote the right to education in conflicts.
A resolution adopted by the council on Friday (Oct 29) by a 15-0 vote emphasised the “invaluable role” that education plays in providing “life-saving spaces” and its contribution to achieving peace and security.
“For the first time, the Security Council has adopted a resolution uniquely dedicated to the protection of education,” Norway’s UN Ambassador Mona Juul, who sponsored the resolution with Niger, told the council after the vote.
She told the council: “Education is under attack around the world.”
Between 2014 and 2019, Juul said 11,000 attacks that harmed more than 22,000 students and educators in at least 93 countries were reported.
The resolution urges the 193 UN member nations “to develop effective measures to prevent and address attacks and threats of attacks against school and education facilities”.
It condemns the military use of schools, which violates international law and may make the buildings “legitimate targets of attack, thus endangering children’s and teachers’ safety as well as their education”.
The resolution urges all parties to armed conflicts to respect that schools are civilian facilities under international humanitarian law. And it calls on all countries “to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the use of schools by armed forces”.
The council expressed “deep concern that girls and women may be the intended victims of attacks targeting their access to and continuation of education”, saying such attacks can include rape, sexual violence and sexual slavery.
Council members urged UN members “to take steps to address girls’ equal enjoyment of their right to education”.
Juul said the 99 countries that co-sponsored the resolution are “an expression of a truly global commitment to this important cause”.
The Norwegian ambassador stressed that adoption of the resolution must be followed by its full implementation.
“We must do more to safeguard educational institutions from military use and attacks,” Juul said, “and ensure the continuation of education during conflicts - including by investing in education in situations of crisis and conflict”//CNA
October
Britain sending millions more COVID-19 doses to developing nations
Written by nuke
A health worker draws a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, donated to Kenya by the UK government, in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug 8, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Baz Ratner) -
Britain will send 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of this year, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders is a much needed step to speed up the post-pandemic economic recovery.
Leaders of the world's 20 richest countries are gathering in Rome at a meeting which Johnson hopes will make progress on producing firm commitments to cut emissions before climate talks in Glasgow at the United Nations COP26 summit.
But he also needs to get the backing from developing countries, some of which are already experiencing the devastating impact of global warming and have struggled to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19 as Western countries race ahead.
At a meeting of the leaders of the seven largest advanced economies earlier this year, Britain pledged at least 100 million shots as part of a G7 aim to offer 1 billion doses, a scheme critics said was too slow and unambitious.
Britain said in a statement it had delivered 10 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, with 10 million more to be delivered in the coming weeks, taking the total to 30.6 million in 2021.
In 2022, Britain will donate at least 20 million more Oxford-AstraZeneca doses and also donate all the 20 million Janssen doses ordered by the government to the COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the GAVI vaccine alliance.
"Like a waking giant, the world economy is stirring back to life. But the pace of recovery will depend on how quickly we can overcome COVID," Johnson will tell G20 leaders, according to his Downing Street office.
"Our first priority as the G20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines."
Mass vaccination against the coronavirus is seen as crucial to restoring economic growth, trade and travel, but Western nations are racing ahead of developing countries, many of which have the lowest inoculation rates and rising cases.
One hundred former leaders and government ministers from around the world have called on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who is hosting the G20 meeting, to address what they said was an unfair distribution of vaccines.
They said the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada would be stockpiling 240 million unused vaccines by the end of the month, which these nations' military could immediately airlift to countries in greater need.
By the end of February a total of 1.1 billion surplus vaccines could be transferred, it said//CNA
October
UN aid chief urges G20: Prevent mass starving in Afghanistan
Written by nuke
Half of Afghanistan's population risks not having enough food to eat, says UN humanitarian chief. (Photo: AP/Oriane Zerah) -
The UN humanitarian chief had a dire message for leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies meeting this weekend: Worry about Afghanistan because its economy is collapsing and half the population risks not having enough food to eat as the snows have already started to fall.
Martin Griffiths said in an interview on Friday (Oct 29) with The Associated Press that “the needs in Afghanistan are skyrocketing".
Half the Afghan children under age five are at risk of acute malnutrition and there is an outbreak of measles in every single province which is “a red light” and “the canary in the mine” for what’s happening in society, he said.
Griffiths warned that food insecurity leads to malnutrition, then disease and death, and “absent corrective action” the world will be seeing deaths in Afghanistan.
He said the World Food Program is feeding 4 million people in Afghanistan now, but the UN predicts that because of the dire winter conditions and the economic collapse it is going to have to provide food to triple that number - 12 million Afghans - “and that’s massive".
WFP appealed this week for US$200 million to finance its operations until the end of the year, and Griffiths urged countries that suspended development assistance for Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover on Aug 15, including the United States and European countries, to transfer that money for desperately needed humanitarian aid.
He noted that the European Union already shifted about €100 million to humanitarian work, and the US announced more than US$144 million in humanitarian aid on Thursday, raising its total aid to Afghans in the country and refugees in the region to nearly US$474 million in 2021.
Griffiths said the current crisis is the result of two large droughts in the past few years, the disruption of services during the conflict between the Taliban and the Afghan government and the collapse of the economy.
“So, the message that I would give to the leaders of the G 20 is worry about economic collapse in Afghanistan, because economic collapse in Afghanistan will, of course, have an exponential effect on the region,” he said.
“And the specific issue that I would ask them to focus on first, is the issue of getting cash into the economy in Afghanistan - not into the hands of the Taliban - into the hands of the people whose access to their own bank accounts is not frozen.”
Griffiths said it is also critical that frontline health workers, teachers and others get their salaries paid.
He said many ideas are being discussed with increasing urgency to get liquidity into the market and his message is that an urgent response is needed this year, not next spring.
Among the ideas are physically taking cash into Afghanistan, which Griffiths said has “lots of difficulties", and using the local Afghani currency. But the issue is how to get traders to safely provide Afghanis for use by humanitarian organisations, he said, and “they will probably only do that if they think that they can get external currency for those Afghanis".
The G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday is taking place in Rome.
Griffiths warned of exponential effects of an economic collapse, saying the first worry is that if people do not get services, food, schooling for their children and health care they will move, either inside the country or flee Afghanistan to survive.
The second worry, he said, is the growing problem of terrorism, “and that is something which usually breeds in times of uncertainty and in times of suffering".
“And that would be a terrible legacy to visit all the people of Afghanistan,” Griffiths said. “So far, I think we’re just holding our breath about the stability of the country and talking daily to the Taliban about what they need to do, for example, to make sure that women and girls have their rights.”
The undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said the Taliban need to ensure the rights of women and girls “because that’s part of stabilising Afghanistan"//CNA
October
Australia's Melbourne back to the races, shops as vaccination rate hits 80%
Written by nuke
Shoppers browse an outdoor retail area on the first day of eased COVID-19 regulations in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct 22, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Sandra Sanders) -
Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city which has endured nearly nine months of lockdowns since the start of the pandemic, saw people flocking to shops and gigs for the first time in months on Saturday (Oct 30) as public health curbs eased.
The city of five million, which re-emerged from its sixth lockdown last week, was reopening further as full vaccination rates across Victoria state, of which Melbourne is capital, was set to reach 80 per cent for those 16 and older.
People queued at malls and boutiques despite cool weather for their first in-person shopping since early August, waiting to be let in as capacity limits were observed, television footage showed.
A crowd of 5,500 were expected to attend the Victoria Derby racehorse on Saturday, the first large event in post-lockdown Melbourne, which was to be followed by a concert for 4,000 fully vaccinated at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in the evening.
Victoria reported 1,355 new daily COVID-19 infections, its lowest in nearly a month. There were also 11 deaths reported, with health authorities saying serious infections mainly affected the unvaccinated.
"So please - particularly for those people in their 20s - go out and get vaccinated, that is your best and in fact, your only real protection against the impact of COVID," said Jeroen Weimar, Victoria's COVID-19 response commander.
Across Australia, New South Wales reported 236 new cases and three deaths. The Australian Capital Territory reported nine new infections.
Neighbouring New Zealand had 160 new cases, most of them in Auckland, which has been battling an outbreak of the Delta variant for months.
Once champions of a COVID-zero strategy of managing the pandemic, both Australia and New Zealand have been moving towards living with the virus through extensive vaccinations, as the Delta variant has proven too transmissible to suppress.
As of Saturday, 74 per cent of eligible people in New Zealand were fully vaccinated and 76.8 per cent of those 16 and older in Australia//CNA
October
Rich nations to acknowledge climate change threat, take urgent steps: Draft communique
Written by nuke
General view of the coal power plant of German LEAG energy company, in Jaenschwalde, Germany, Oct 21, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel) -
Leaders of the 20 richest countries will acknowledge the existential threat of climate change and will take urgent steps to limit global warning, a draft communique seen ahead of the COP26 summit shows.
As people around the world prepared to demonstrate their frustration with politicians, Pope Francis lent his voice to a chorus demanding action, not mere words, from the meeting starting on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Group of 20, whose leaders gather on Saturday and Sunday in Rome beforehand, will pledge to take urgent steps to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
While the 2015 Paris Agreement committed signatories to keeping global warming to "well below" 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees, carbon levels in the atmosphere have since grown.
"We commit to tackle the existential challenge of climate change," the G20 draft, seen by Reuters, promised.
"We recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5 degrees are much lower than at 2 degrees and that immediate action must be taken to keep 1.5 degrees within reach."
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the world was rushing headlong towards climate disaster and G20 leaders must do more to help poorer countries.
"Unfortunately, the message to developing countries is essentially this: the cheque is in the mail. On all our climate goals, we have miles to go. And we must pick up the pace," Guterres said.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has berated politicians for 30 years of "blah, blah, blah" is among those who took to the streets of the City of London, the British capital's financial heart, to demand the world's biggest financial companies withdraw support for fossil fuel.
Demonstrators in the United States also protested outside several Federal Reserve Bank buildings and other banks.
US President Joe Biden will join leaders at the G20 meeting after a setback on Thursday when the House of Representatives abandoned plans for a vote on a US$1 trillion infrastructure bill, which would have represented the biggest investment in climate action in US history.
Biden had hoped to reach an agreement before COP26, where he wants to present a message that the United States has resumed the fight against global warming.
The world's political leaders, he said, must give future generations "concrete hope" that they are taking the radical steps needed.
"These crises present us with the need to take decisions, radical decisions that are not always easy," he said. "Moments of difficulty like these also present opportunities, opportunities that we must not waste."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting COP26, said this week the outcome hangs in the balance.
On Friday, Britain sought to align business more closely with net-zero commitments by becoming the first G20 country to make a set of global voluntary disclosure standards on climate-related risks mandatory for large firms.
But leaders of Europe's biggest oil and gas companies, among big firms conspicuous by their absence at COP26, said only governments can effectively curb fossil fuel demand.
The statement from the G20 countries, which are responsible for an estimated 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, said members acknowledged "the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by 2050".
But countries on the climate frontline struggling with rising sea levels want steps taken now.
"We need concrete action now. We cannot wait until 2050, it is a matter of our survival," said Anote Tong, a former president of Kiribati.
Tong has predicted his country of 33 low-lying atolls and islands was likely to become uninhabitable in 30 to 60 years' time.
UN climate experts say a 2050 deadline is crucial to meet the 1.5 degree limit, but some of the world's biggest polluters say they cannot reach it, with China, by far the largest carbon emitter, aiming for 2060.
Britain's Johnson said he had urged Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to do more to reduce his country's reliance on coal and to bring forward its prediction for peak emissions.
"I pushed a bit on (peak emissions), that 2025 would be better than 2030, and I wouldn't say he committed on that," Johnson said.
Xi is not expected to attend the conference in person.
In the G20 draft communique, the 2050 date for net zero emissions appears in brackets, indicating it is still subject to negotiation.
Curent commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions put the planet on track for an average 2.7C temperature rise this century, a United Nations report said on Tuesday.
Pacific Island leaders said they would demand immediate action in Glasgow.
"We do not have the luxury of time and must join forces urgently and deliver the required ambition at COP26 to safeguard the future of all humankind, and our planet," said Henry Puna, former Cook Islands prime minister and now secretary of the Pacific Islands Forum//CNA
October
US FDA authorises first COVID-19 shot for young kids
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: A child wears a face mask on the first day of New York City schools, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo -
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday (Oct 29) authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the United States.
The shot will not be immediately available to the age group. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to advise on how the shot should be administered, which will be decided after a group of outside advisers discuss the plan on Tuesday.
Pfizer said it will begin shipping pediatric vials of the vaccine on Saturday to pharmacies, pediatricians' offices and other places where the shots may be administered.
The FDA decision is expected to make the vaccine available to 28 million American children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning.
It comes after a panel of advisers to the regulator voted overwhelmingly to recommend the authorisation on Tuesday.
Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger.
The FDA authorised a 10-microgram dose of Pfizer's vaccine in young children, lower than the 30 micrograms in the original vaccine for those age 12 and older.
Advisers on the FDA panel said a lower dose could help mitigate some of the rare side effects after paying close attention to the rate of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, that has been linked to both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, especially in young men.
The regulator said on Friday that known and potential benefits of the Pfizer vaccine in individuals aged between 5 and 11 outweigh the risks.
For the pediatric shots, the FDA has authorised a new version of the vaccine, which uses a new buffer and allows them to be stored in refrigerators for up to 10 weeks.
In the United States, around 58 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, lagging other nations such as the UK and France. Many adults, who have been hesitant to get a vaccine, may be more cautious about giving the shot to their children.
"We certainly hope that as people see children getting vaccinated, and being protected and being able to participate in activities without concern, that more people will get their kids vaccinated," Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said at a press conference.
"And as we accumulate more experience with the vaccine, more comfort with the safety will occur."
Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine showed 90.7 per cent efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11.
"This is a day so many parents, eager to protect their young children from this virus, have been waiting for," Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in a statement
The United States started administering the vaccine to teens between ages 12 and 17 in May. Vaccination coverage among the age group is lower than in older groups, according to the CDC.
Pfizer's vaccine was the first to be authorised for emergency use in the United States in December last year for those age 16 and older and was granted full US approval in August.
Earlier this week, Moderna reported interim data showing that its vaccine generated a strong immune response in children ages 6 to 11 years. It is awaiting a US regulatory decision on the authorisation for children between ages 12 and 17//CNA
October
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in meets Pope, urges him to visit North Korea
Written by nuke
This photo taken by the Vatican Media on Oct 29, 2021 shows Pope Francis and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in exchanging gifts during a private audience at The Vatican, ahead of an upcoming G20 summit. (Photo: Handout / AFP / VATICAN MEDIA) -
South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Pope Francis on Friday (Oct 29), giving him a cross made from barbed wire from the peninsula's demilitarised zone and again urging him to visit North Korea.
Moon, who is Catholic, was in Rome for the G20 summit of world leaders. He held private talks with the Pope for about 25 minutes, the Vatican said.
Moon's office said the president, who will leave office in May, had told Pope Francis that a papal visit to Pyongyang would help revive the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
"If you send me an invitation, I will gladly go to help you, for the sake of peace. Aren't you brothers who speak the same language? I'm willing to go," it quoted the pope as saying.
The Vatican said in a statement that the two sides discussed "the promotion of dialogue and reconciliation between Koreans" and the hope that "joint effort and goodwill may favour peace and development in the Korean peninsula, supported by solidarity and by fraternity".
When he met the Pope in 2018, Moon relayed a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the pontiff to visit North Korea.
Vatican officials said at the time that the Pope, who has made many appeals for rapprochement between the two Koreas, would consider such a trip under certain conditions if it could help the cause of peace.
North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion as long as it does not undermine the state.
But beyond a handful of state-controlled places of worship - including a Catholic church in the capital Pyongyang - no open religious activity is allowed and the authorities have repeatedly jailed foreign missionaries.
There is little information on how many of North Korea's citizens are Catholic, or how they practice their faith.
Negotiations between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes have been stalled amid efforts by both Koreas to develop increasingly sophisticated weapons.
North Korea last week confirmed it test-fired a new, smaller ballistic missile from a submarine//CNA
October
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman arrives at the opening session of the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 26, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo -
Saudi Arabia intends to bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Friday (Oct 29), part of the de facto ruler's push to transform the kingdom's economy and diversify it away from oil.
The Saudi capital Riyadh has submitted a formal request to host Expo 2030 under the theme "The era of change: Leading the planet to a foresighted tomorrow", a statement said.
Gulf neighbour and regional business hub the United Arab Emirates, which is increasingly in economic competition with Saudi Arabia, is currently hosting the Expo 2020 world fair, which was delayed for a year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UAE Vice President and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum tweeted his support for the Saudi bid, saying "We will give our brothers access to the knowledge and experience we gained throughout seven years of preparation for the Expo".
The bid, which was submitted to the expo organising body the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), will be led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
Prince Mohammed said the 2030 Expo in Riyadh would coincide with the culmination of the kingdom's economic reform program known as Vision 2030, and allow the kingdom to share lessons from that programme//CNA
October
UK's Johnson urges China's Xi to move faster on climate goals
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds at the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins//File Photo -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (Oct 29) to do more to reduce his country's reliance on coal and to bring forward its target date for peak CO2 emissions to try to better tackle climate change.
China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is crucial to the success of COP26, but many scientists and climate experts fear that its current climate plans are too weak and Johnson is keen to persuade Beijing to go further.
On Thursday, Beijing submitted updated 'nationally determined contributions' (NDCs) to fight climate change, formally boosting headline emission-cutting pledges but offering nothing new ahead of the United Nations COP26 climate talks hosted by Johnson.
The submission documents, published on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), showed that China aims to see its carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and to become carbon neutral before 2060.
Referring to a conversation earlier on Friday, Johnson told reporters that he raised "a couple of points. First of all about the moment for peaking ... they have said before 2030 and so I pushed a bit on that, that 2025 would be better than 2030, and I wouldn't say he committed on that."
"On the other point where I was evangelical again was the potential to move away from coal," he said, adding he had described how quickly Britain had moved away from coal.
Johnson is keen to make COP26 a success, but with the UN Environment Programme saying the world is on course to warm around 2.7C with hugely destructive consequences, some critics doubt whether the British leader can win over China and other big emitters and "keep 1.5 alive".
The landmark 2015 Paris agreement committed signatories to keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Using football as a metaphor, Johnson said: "If this was half time I would say we're about 5-1 down ... and we've got a long way to go."
"But we can do it. We have the ability to equalise, to save the position and to come back."//CNA