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October
Senior Chinese diplomat to meet Taliban interim gov't on Qatar trip
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi will meet a delegation of the interim Afghan Taliban government during his visit to Qatar on Oct. 25-26.
The two sides will exchange views on the situation in Afghanistan and topics of "common concern", said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
"As Afghanistan's traditional friendly neighbor and partner, China has always advocated dialogue and contact to guide the positive development of the situation in Afghanistan," he said.
In mid-August, the Afghan government collapsed as the United States and allies withdrew troops after 20 years on the ground, leading the Taliban to seize power in a lightning offensive.
The month before, a Taliban delegation had met Wang Yi in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.
China has since promised aid to the neighbouring country, while demanding the Taliban crack down on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group Beijing says threatens stability in the western region of Xinjiang. (Reuters)
October
Philippines to start vaccine mixing trials by early November
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines will start testing a combination of coronavirus vaccines this week or early in November, a cabinet official said on Monday, as the Southeast Asian nation seeks higher efficacy for its inoculation programme to allow further reopening of the economy.
The government is recruiting up to 1,500 unvaccinated individuals for trials that will involve mixing China's Sinovac shots with other brands, Science and Technology Undersecretary Rowena Guevara told DZMM radio station.
"We need to know what is the best combination of vaccines for Filipinos," Guevara said, adding that other countries reported higher efficacy after mixing doses.
With nearly 2.8 million COVID-19 cases and almost 42,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest infections and fatalities in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines has fully inoculated 25.7 million people, or a third of its vaccine-eligible population, as of Oct. 24, government data shows. Of the 97.7 million shots delivered in the country, nearly half were from Sinovac.
Lengthy and strict lockdowns last year cut millions of jobs and decimated the consumption-driven Philippine economy, which was among the fastest growing in Asia before the pandemic. (Reuters)
October
Amnesty to shut Hong Kong offices given national security law risks
Written by Nur Yasmin
International rights group Amnesty International said on Monday it would close its Hong Kong offices because a China-imposed security law had now made it "effectively impossible" for rights groups to work freely without the risk of reprisals.
Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, the chair of Amnesty’s international board, said in a statement the two offices would close by year-end, noting an intensification of a crackdown that has forced at least 35 groups to disband under the law this year.
"This decision, made with a heavy heart, has been driven by Hong Kong’s national security law, which has made it effectively impossible for human rights organizations in Hong Kong to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals,” said Singh Bais.
"The environment of repression and perpetual uncertainty created by the national security law makes it impossible to know what activities might lead to criminal sanctions," she added.
In the past, Hong Kong had served as one of Asia's leading NGO hubs, with groups drawn to its robust rule of law and wide-ranging autonomy -- guaranteed for Hong Kong when control over the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997.
Among the groups to have disbanded this year are several leading trade unions, NGOs and professional groups, while a number of other NGOs including the New School for Democracy have relocated to the democratic island of Taiwan.
There was no immediate response from the Hong Kong government to a Reuters request for comment.
Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say the national security law enshrines individual rights, justifying the laws as necessary to restore stability after mass protests in 2019 when millions took to the streets over many months.
Protesters have long called on China's Communist leaders to abide by its constitutional promise to grant the city broad freedoms and eventual full democracy under a co-called "one country, two systems" arrangement.
Since the implementation of the security law, however, authorities have crushed a once vibrant civil society, and curbed free speech and protests. Many leading pro-democracy activists and politicians have been jailed or forced into exile.
Under the broadly-defined security legislation, subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism can be punished with up to life in jail.
"Its sweeping and vaguely worded definition of "national security" ... has been used arbitrarily as a pretext to restrict" human rights," Amnesty added in its statement. (Reuters)
October
'Children are going to die', U.N. agency warns as Afghanistan verges on collapse
Written by Nur Yasmin
Millions of Afghans, including children, could die of starvation unless urgent action is taken to pull Afghanistan back from the brink of collapse, a senior United Nations official warned, calling for frozen funds to be freed for humanitarian efforts.
World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley told Reuters that 22.8 million people - more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million population - were facing acute food insecurity and "marching to starvation" compared to 14 million just two months ago.
"Children are going to die. People are going to starve. Things are going to get a lot worse," he said in Dubai.
"I don't know how you don't have millions of people, and especially children, dying at the rate we are going with the lack of funding and the collapsing of the economy."
Afghanistan was plunged into crisis in August after Taliban fighters drove out a Western-backed government, prompting donors to hold back billions of dollars in assistance for the aid-dependent economy.
The food crisis, exacerbated by climate change, was dire in Afghanistan even before the takeover by the Taliban, whose new administration has been blocked from accessing assets held overseas as nations grapple with how to deal with the hardline Islamists.
"What we are predicting is coming true much faster than we anticipated. Kabul fell faster than anybody anticipated and the economy is falling faster than that," Beasley said.
He said dollars earmarked for development assistance should be repurposed for humanitarian aid, which some nations have already done, or frozen funds be channelled through the agency.
"You've got to unfreeze these funds so people can survive."
The U.N. food agency needs up to $220 million a month to partially feed the nearly 23 million vulnerable people as winter nears.
Many Afghans are selling possessions to buy food with the Taliban unable to pay wages to civil servants, and urban communities are facing food insecurity on levels similar to rural areas for the first time.
WFP tapped its own resources to help cover food aid through to December after some donors failed to meet pledges, Beasley said, adding that with government appropriations already out, funds may have to be redirected from aid efforts in other countries.
Aid groups are urging countries, concerned about human rights under the Taliban, to engage with the new rulers to prevent a collapse they say could trigger a migration crisis similar to the 2015 exodus from Syria that shook Europe.
"I don't think the leaders in the world realise what is coming their way," he said, listing off several humanitarian crises in the Middle East, Africa and Central America. (Reuters)
October
French President Macron calls for immediate release of Sudan Prime Minister
Written by Nur Yasmin
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday condemned the coup attempt in Sudan and called for the immediate release of the Sudanese Prime Minister and civilian members of the government.
Soldiers arrested most of the members of Sudan's cabinet on Monday and a military officer dissolved the transitional government, while opponents of the takeover took to the streets where gunfire and injuries were reported. read more
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was detained and moved to an undisclosed location after refusing to issue a statement in support of the coup, said the information ministry, still apparently under the control of Hamdok's supporters.
Sudan's information ministry said military forces had arrested civilian members of the Sovereign Council and members of the government. In a statement sent to Reuters, it called on Sudanese "to block the military's movements to block the democratic transition". (Reuters)
October
President Biden to attend ASEAN-U.S. summit on Tuesday
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. President Joe Biden will attend a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday, the U.S. embassy in Brunei told Reuters.
Biden will lead the U.S. delegation for the ASEAN-United States summit, the embassy said. The virtual summit will be held as part of ASEAN leaders' meeting this week. (Reuters)
October
UN warns world 'way off track' as greenhouse gases grow
Written by Nur Yasmin
Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record in 2020, the U.N. weather agency said on Monday, warning that the world was "way off track" for capping rising temperatures.
A World Meteorological Organization report showed that carbon dioxide levels surged to 413.2 parts per million in 2020, rising more than the average rate over the last decade despite a temporary emissions dip during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said that the current rate of increase in heat-trapping gases would result in temperature rises "far in excess" of the 2015 Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average this century.
"We are way off track. We need to revisit our industrial, energy and transport systems and whole way of life," he said, calling for a "dramatic increase" in commitments at the COP26 conference beginning Oct. 31.
Carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for centuries so concentrations are different from emissions which fluctuate depending on the current level of fossil fuels burnt.
This long shelf-life also means climate scientists expect warming to persist for decades, even if deep carbon emissions cuts are made immediately.
Nearly 200 countries meet in Glasgow, Scotland next month with a view to increasing efforts to tackle global warming.
'ALARMING' AMAZON DATA
The annual report by the Geneva-based agency measures the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, the gases that are warming the planet and triggering extreme weather events like heatwaves and intense rainfall.
The report confirmed, as expected, that the COVID-19 economic slowdown "did not have any discernible impact on the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their growth rates."
It added that early readings showed levels of carbon dioxide, the gas that makes the biggest contribution to warming, continued to rise in 2021.
"We need to mitigate emissions, there is no way around it, we need to reduce emissions as fast as possible," Oksana Tarasova, the head of the WMO's atmospheric and environment division, told reporters.
The WMO report also flagged concerns about the ability of the ocean and land to absorb roughly half of carbon dioxide emissions. These "sinks" act as a buffer and prevent the possibility of more dramatic temperature increases.
WMO data collected over ten years showed that a portion of the Amazon rainforest had switched from carbon "sink" to carbon "source" for the first time amid wildfires and deforestation.
"It's not automatic that the strength of sinks will continue at the same rate," said Taalas, describing the Amazon data as "alarming". (Reuters)
October
Greenhouse gas levels hit record; world scrambles to contain damage
Written by Nur Yasmin
Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a record last year and the world is "way off track" on climate goals, the U.N. weather agency said on Monday, showing the scale of the task facing governments scrambling to avert dangerous levels of warming.
A report by the World Meteorological Organization showed that carbon dioxide levels surged to 413.2 parts per million in 2020, rising more than the average rate over the last decade despite a temporary dip in emissions during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said that the current rate of increase in heat-trapping gases would result in temperature rises "far in excess" of the 2015 Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average this century.
"We are way off track," he said. "We need to revisit our industrial, energy and transport systems and whole way of life," he added, calling for a "dramatic increase" in commitments at the COP26 conference beginning on Sunday.
The Scottish city of Glasgow was putting on the final touches before hosting the climate talks, which may be the world's last best chance to cap global warming at the 1.5-2 degrees Celsius upper limit set out in the Paris Agreement.
The stakes for the planet are huge - among them the impact on economic livelihoods the world over and the future stability of the global financial system.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince said on Saturday that the world's top oil exporter aims to reach "net zero" emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly produced by burning fossil fuels, by 2060 - 10 years later than the United States.
He also said it would double the emissions cuts it plans to achieve by 2030.
Australia's cabinet was expected to formally adopt a target for net zero emissions by 2050 when it meets on Monday to review a deal reached between parties in Prime Minister Scott Morrison's coalition government, official sources told Reuters.
The ruling coalition has been divided over how to tackle climate change, with the government maintaining that harder targets would damage the A$2-trillion ($1.5-trillion) economy.
In Berlin, officials from Germany and Canada were set to present a plan about how rich countries can help poorer nations finance the overhaul needed to address climate change.
Wealthy countries have so far failed to deliver their 2009 pledge to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance to poorer countries by 2020.
A Reuters poll of economists found that hitting the Paris Agreement goal of net-zero carbon emissions will require investments in a green transition worth 2%-3% of world output each year until 2050, far less than the economic cost of inaction.
In London, climate activists restarted their campaign of blockading major roads by disrupting traffic in the city's financial district. (Reuters)
October
China strengthens land border protection with new law
Written by nuke
The Chinese national flag is seen in Beijing, China, Apr 29, 2020. (File photo: REUTERS/Thomas Peter) -
China passed a law on Saturday (Oct 23) to strengthen border protection amid a protracted stand-off with India, worries about spillover effects from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and the spread of COVID-19 from Southeast Asia.
The Land Borders Law will not necessarily change how border security is handled when the measure takes effect on Jan 1, 2022, but it reflects China's growing confidence in its capability to manage its frontiers.
China has been closely watching neighbouring Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power in August, to guard against a possible inflow of refugees or Islamic extremists crossing over to link up with the Muslim Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region.
At its Himalayan frontier, Chinese soldiers have been in a stand-off with Indian troops since April 2020.
China has also taken great pains to keep the coronavirus outside of its borders, after illegal crossings from Myanmar and Vietnam contributed this year to a surge in cases in its southern provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi respectively.
This is the first time that the People's Republic of China, founded 72 years ago, has a dedicated law specifying how it governs and guards its 22,000km land border shared with 14 countries, including former superpower Russia and nuclear-capable North Korea.
The country will "take effective measures to resolutely protect territorial sovereignty and land border security", the law says.
Chinese military and military police - the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force - are responsible for guarding the border against any "invasion, encroachment, infiltration, provocation".
The law stipulates that China can close its border if a war or other armed conflict nearby threatens border security//CNA
October
6.5-magnitude earthquake hits northeast Taiwan: Weather bureau
Written by nuke
An earthquake hit Taiwan on Oct 24, 2021. (Map: EMSC) -
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Taiwan on Sunday (Oct 24), with residents reporting violent shaking in the capital Taipei.
There were no immediate reports of widespread damage.
Taiwan's central weather bureau traced the epicentre of the quake to northeastern Yilan county, and said it hit at a depth of 67km at 1.11pm.
An AFP reporter who lives in Yilan said the shaking seemed to last some 30 seconds.
"The walls of the house were shaking, both sideways and up and down, it felt quite strong," the reporter said.
There was no damage in his neighbourhood.
The main quake was followed by a 5.4-magnitude aftershock and Taipei's MRT metro system shut down as a precaution for a little under an hour before service resumed.
Tom Parker, a British illustrator who lives in Taipei, said he was riding the subway when the quake hit.
"First time I've felt a quake on the MRT. Like a tame rollercoaster," he tweeted, adding he and other commuters were told to shelter in place in the station for now.
Many others reported the tremor on social media.
"I was scared to death, I screamed in my room," Yu Ting wrote on Facebook.
"This earthquake is really big, glass has shattered in my living room."
Some grocery stores reported food and other goods were thrown from shelves by the shaking.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.
Some earthquakes of this magnitude can prove deadly, although much depends on where the quake strikes and at what depth.
Hualien, a scenic tourist hotspot, was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in 2018 that killed 17 people and injured nearly 300.
In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history.
However, a 6.2 earthquake struck in December 2020 in Yilan with no major damage or injuries reported//CNA