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October
Australia's COVID-19 cases remain subdued as vaccinations rise
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's COVID-19 cases remained subdued on Tuesday as its largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, gradually move towards normality amid a surge in vaccinations, after being rocked by a third wave of infections from the Delta variant.
Sydney and the national capital Canberra exited a months-long lockdown last week after racing through its inoculation targets while Melbourne is on track to lift its strict stay-home orders later this week as double-dose rates in the adult population pass 70%, 80% and 90%.
Authorities in Queensland, which on Monday became the first COVID-free state to outline its reopening plans, urged the state's 5 million residents to get vaccinated ahead of opening its state borders a week before Christmas - when its double-dose vaccination rate is expected to reach 80%.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the opening of borders should act as an "incentive" for residents to get inoculated. Queensland has so far only fully vaccinated 57% of its population above 16, well below the national average of 68%.
Some states and territories have mandated inoculation of frontline workers with offenders facing up to A$5,000 ($3,718) fine in the remote Northern Territory.
Michael Gunner, the territory's chief minister, on Monday blasted Texas Senator Ted Cruz who labelled the territory's vaccine mandate as "Covid tyranny".
"We don't need your lectures, thanks mate. You know nothing about us. And if you stand against a life-saving vaccine, then you sure as hell don't stand with Australia," Gunner said in a tweet.
Texas has seen nearly 70,000 deaths from the virus, compared with just 1,558 in Australia and none in the remote Northern Territory.
A total of 1,749 new cases were reported in Victoria, the majority in Melbourne, down from 1,903 on Monday. Daily infections in New South Wales, home to Sydney, rose slightly to 273, still well down from its pandemic high in early September.
October
Japan kicks off election campaign as support for the ruling LDP dips
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan on Tuesday kicked off its first official day of campaigning ahead of the Oct. 31 general election, with a media poll showing support for the ruling party easing, in a blow for recently installed prime minister Fumio Kishida.
Support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was at 38.8%, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted over the weekend, down from 41.2% a week earlier.
Kishida's approval rating also fell, slipping three percentage points to 46%, although his party is still expected to retain power, albeit with fewer seats.
Key election issues will be revitalising the economy and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kishida has promised he will spread the benefits of economic growth more widely, seeking to blunt criticisms of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's economic plan, while prioritising the handling of the coronavirus response.
The opposition has criticised the ruling coalition for failing to improve the livelihoods of people and protect them from the pandemic.
The NHK poll also showed a four percentage point increase in respondents who would "definitely go to the polls" versus a week ago, with 56% now saying they would cast their vote.
But leading opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), is still far behind the LDP in approval ratings, with only 6.6% of respondents throwing their support behind them.
The poll showed 36.2% of people did not support any particular party.
In keeping with recent tradition for the LDP, Kishida's first campaign speech will be at Fukushima prefecture, where a massive earthquake in 2011 caused a tsunami that crashed into the northeastern coast, triggering a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.
Yukio Edano, the leader of the CDPJ, will start his campaign in the conservative stronghold of Shimane prefecture in the southwest of Japan.
October
Afghanistan's economic collapse could prompt refugee crisis - IMF
Written by Nur Yasmin
Afghanistan's economy is set to contract up to 30% this year and this is likely to further fuel a refugee crisis that will impact neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
With non-humanitarian aid halted and foreign assets largely frozen after the Taliban seized power in August, Afghanistan’s aid-reliant economy "faces severe fiscal and balance-of-payments crises", it said in its regional economic outlook update.
"The resulting drop in living standards threatens to push millions into poverty and could lead to a humanitarian crisis."
The IMF said the turmoil in Afghanistan was expected to generate important economic and security spillovers to the region and beyond and was "fueling a surge in Afghan refugees", although it gave no estimates of potential numbers.
"A large influx of refugees could put a burden on public resources in refugee-hosting countries, fuel labor market pressures, and lead to social tensions, underscoring the need for assistance from the international community," it said.
Assuming a million more Afghans flee their homeland and settle in other countries in a way that is proportional to the existing spread of Afghan refugees, the annual cost of hosting them would amount to $100 million in Tajikistan (1.3% of gross domestic product), about $300 million in Iran (0.03% of GDP) and more than $500 million in Pakistan (0.2% of GDP), the IMF said.
Tajikistan said last month it could not afford to take in large numbers of refugees unless it received international financial assistance. read more Other Central Asian nations have also said they have no plans to host refugees.
Another channel through which Afghanistan's economic troubles could affect its neighbours is trade.
"Exports to Afghanistan are macroeconomically and socially relevant for Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan," the Fund said.
Afghanistan previously served as a source of cash dollars, through both legitimate and possibly illicit cross-border flows, due to its status as a beneficiary of large donor funds, but now even larger amounts of dollar banknotes could start flowing into the country due to its shortages, the IMF said.
The goods they are exchanged for are likely to raise new concerns over money laundering and the financing of terrorism, it added.
October
Frozen potatoes vs turkey: Patriotic Chinese-made war epic tops global box office
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Chinese-made Korean War epic has topped the global box office, tapping a vein of rising patriotism in China and prompting moviegoers to post videos of themselves eating frozen potatoes to emulate the hardships endured by soldiers in the conflict.
"The Battle at Lake Changjin", released to coincide with China's Oct. 1 national holiday, had grossed nearly 5 billion yuan ($779.13 million) by Tuesday, according to data compiled by Lighthouse, a box office tracker owned by Alibaba Pictures (1060.HK).
That puts it ahead of current global blockbusters including the latest 007 film, No Time To Die, and Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, according to IMDb-backed movie data website Box Office Mojo, and makes it the biggest-grossing war film ever, overtaking Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which took in $526.9 million.
Having premiered 20 days ago, the three-hour-movie currently accounts for half of all films being shown in Chinese cinemas, according to Lighthouse. It was made with the support of the central government's propaganda department, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Starring Wu Jing, who directed and played the lead role in Wolf Warrior, another nationalistic Chinese blockbuster, the film depicts Chinese soldiers battling the much-better equipped U.S. troops during the bitter cold of the 1950-1953 war.
The conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving U.S.-led U.N. forces technically still at war with North Korea.
The movie, which cost $200 million, is the latest in a series of patriotic titles China has churned out in recent years. The film has been embraced by official media, and a former journalist was arrested by police for suggesting on a social media platform that the soldiers frozen to death in the movie had been foolish.
One scene in the movie shows soldiers chewing frozen small potatoes between battles while their U.S. counterparts feast on Thanksgiving turkey.
Some cinemas have distributed frozen potatoes to audiences before the movie, according to videos on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with many showing moviegoers eating them or the fried flour that was also eaten by Chinese soldiers.
A young woman in one such video cried after the first bite, saying it was impossible to eat.
"The frozen potatoes they ate give us the good life we have today," said another Douyin user.
Peking University professor Zhang Yiwu said the increasing popularity of local films posed a challenge to Hollywood's efforts to gain share in China's movie market. "Hollywood's movie industry produced one standard product for global audiences in the past, but they might have to learn how to cater to the Chinese market," Zhang said.
October
EXCLUSIVE Myanmar junta minister says foreign-backed 'sabotage' partly to blame for economic woes
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's military-appointed authorities are doing their best to stabilise the kyat currency and support an economy in turmoil since a February coup, a minister told Reuters on Tuesday, blaming the crisis partly on foreign backers of its opponents.
The currency lost more than 60% of its value in September after the southeast Asian nation was roiled by months of protests, strikes and economic paralysis following the coup.
Inflation has soared to 6.51% since the military took power from 1.51% previously, and foreign reserves stand at 11 trillion kyat, or $6.04 billion at the central bank's official rate, the minister, Aung Naing Oo, said in a rare interview.
It was the first time Myanmar had disclosed its level of foreign currency since the coup, and compares with a World Bank figure of just $7.67 billion at the end of 2020.
The junta's investment minister said Myanmar was suffering, like most countries, from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But he attributed its economic troubles to sabotage by opponents of the junta, a strategy he said was backed by some foreign elements.
"The pandemic has posed in Myanmar a serious threat. It has led to an economic slowdown that has been worsened by sabotage and civil disobedience that has affected national stability," said the key former policymaker in the reformist, army-backed government that ran Myanmar after the end of a half-century of direct military rule in 2011.
Asked which countries had backed "economic sabotage" and what evidence there was, he declined to specify, saying only, "We have received a number of evidence of how they interfere."
Six foreign companies had applied for permission to exit Myanmar since the coup and others had suspended their business, he added.
International media had exaggerated the crisis, he said, however, adding, "Hopefully, in a few months, we will be able to restore our normal situation."
The fall in the value of the kyat currency has driven up food and fuel prices in a fragile economy the World Bank forecasts to contract 18% this year, slumping far more than its neighbours.
Steps had been taken to build confidence in the currency, said Aung Naing Oo, a former member of the military who had served in the ousted government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Authorities will encourage use of online payment, loans for farmers and debt moratoria, among other efforts to help the economy, he added.
The ratio of tax to gross domestic product had fallen to 5% to 6%, down from 8.4% in 2020, he said.
October
Bangladesh arrests hundreds for violence against Hindus
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least six people have died, local media reported, as police have fought to restrain angry mobs.
The violence began on Friday when hundreds of Muslims protested in the southeastern Noakhali district accusing Hindus of a blasphemous incident involving the Koran.
Several Hindu religious sites have been vandalised, and homes attacked.
Authorities have filed 71 cases in connection with the violence during the Hindu festival of Durga Puja, a Bangladesh police spokesman said. Investigations were ongoing after the arrest of 450 suspected culprits, he added.
Communal tensions have long simmered in Bangladesh, whose constitution designates Islam as the state religion but also upholds the principle of secularism.
Hindus make up around 10% of the population.
The unrest is among the worst in Bangladesh since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party came to power in 2009.
"Recent attacks on Hindus of Bangladesh, fuelled by hate speech on social media, are against the values of the Constitution and need to stop," tweeted Mia Seppo, the United Nations' resident coordinator in Bangladesh.
Rights group Amnesty International called for an investigation and punishment for perpetrators.
October
Top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is stepping down, the State Department said on Monday, less than two months after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country.
Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, noting that West will work closely with the U.S. embassy, which is now based in Doha, on U.S. interests in Afghanistan.
A person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that Khalilzad submitted his resignation on Friday.
His departure follows his exclusion from the Biden administration's first formal talks with the Taliban after the U.S. pullout, held in Doha earlier in October.
Khalilzad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Khalilzad, born in Afghanistan, held the post since 2018 and spearheaded the negotiations with the Taliban that led to the February 2020 agreement for the withdrawal of U.S. forces this year.
He then pressed the hardline Islamist movement and the Western-backed government of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to negotiate a political settlement to decades of strife.
In mid-August, the government collapsed as the Taliban swept through the country and marched into the capital, Kabul, unopposed. Khalilzad was left seeking the militants' assistance in the U.S. evacuation of U.S. citizens and at-risk Afghans who worked for the U.S. government.
Current and former U.S. officials told Reuters earlier that in the three years Khalilzad had been in the role, he became the face of one of the largest U.S. diplomatic failures in recent memory.
U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the veteran American diplomat relinquished leverage to the militant group, continuously undermined the Afghan government, and had little interest in hearing different viewpoints within the U.S. government.
CNN first reported Khalilzad's plan to resign.
October
EU has exported 'over 1 billion' COVID-19 vaccine doses
Written by nuke
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Rome, Italy, Jan 27, 2021. (File photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi) -
The European Union has exported "over 1 billion" doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the past 10 months, the bloc's chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday (Oct 18).
"Very clearly, the European Union is the largest exporter of COVID-19 vaccines," she said, announcing the "important milestone" in a brief broadcast and statement.
Von der Leyen said that 87 million of the doses had been funnelled through the World Health Organization-led COVAX scheme to mid- and low-income countries.
Most of the exports are orders paid for by other countries for COVID-19 vaccine doses manufactured in the EU.
Von der Leyen said that, separate from the export figure, "the EU will donate in the next months at least 500 million doses to the most vulnerable countries". She urged other countries "to step up, too".
Her declaration comes in the context of a sharp divide between wealthier regions and poorer ones in terms of COVID-19 vaccination rates.
The European Union, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore and Japan are all among those to have more than half of their populations fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile many countries in Africa and other places such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Myanmar and Syria have less than 10 per cent of their people inoculated.
The European Union, which has 65.6 per cent of its population fully inoculated according to an AFP tally of official statistics, has been stepping up exports of vaccines.
So too is the United States, which has 57 per cent fully jabbed. President Joe Biden said last week his government was raising its donations to Africa to a total 67 million doses.
G20 countries have pledged to fairer distribution of COVID-19 vaccines after World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pointed out early this month that, of more than 6 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, only 1.4 per cent of people in poor countries have been fully vaccinated.
The European Union has in place a vaccine export control mechanism under which doses to be sent abroad have to be first approved by Brussels and the member state in which they are produced.
Only one shipment - a 250,000-dose consignment of AstraZeneca meant for Australia - has been blocked under the scheme, back in April.
"We have always shared our vaccines fairly with the rest of the world," von der Leyen said.
"We have exported as much as we delivered to EU citizens. Indeed, at least every second vaccine produced in Europe is exported."
She added: "Together with President Biden, we aim for a global vaccination rate of 70 per cent by next year."//CNA
October
Afghanistan-wide polio vaccination starts next month: UN
Written by nuke
Afghanistan has not had a countrywide polio immunisation campaign in over three years. (Photo: AFP) -
Afghanistan will kick off its first countrywide polio immunisation campaign in years next month to protect millions of unvaccinated children, the UN said on Monday (Oct 18).
The United Nations' health and children's agencies said the campaign to vaccinate against the crippling and potentially fatal disease would begin on Nov 8, with full support from the Taliban leadership.
"WHO and UNICEF welcome the decision by the Taliban leadership supporting the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccination across Afghanistan," they said in a statement.
Since the Taliban swept back into power two months ago, the UN had been talking with the group's leadership to address the towering health challenges in the country, the statement said.
"The Taliban leadership has expressed their commitment for the inclusion of female frontline workers," it said.
Afghanistan's new rulers had also committed to "providing security and assuring the safety of all health workers across the country, which is an essential prerequisite for the implementation of polio vaccination campaigns", the agencies said.
That marks a dramatic about-face from the Islamists' position during their years of insurgency against the ousted Western-backed government.
Due in large part to Taliban opposition to door-to-door vaccination campaigns, which they suspected were being used to spy on their activities, no campaigns with countrywide reach have been carried out in over three years.
Taliban leaders often told communities in areas they controlled that vaccines were a Western conspiracy aimed at sterilising Muslim children.
The UN agencies said next month's campaign would aim to reach 9.9 million children under five - more than a third of them in regions that had long been inaccessible to vaccinators.
A second nationwide polio vaccination campaign had also been agreed upon and would be synchronised with a campaign planned in neighbouring Pakistan in December, they said.
"This is an extremely important step in the right direction," WHO Representative in Afghanistan Dapeng Luo said in the statement.
"Sustained access to all children is essential to end polio for good."
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries where the wild version of the poliovirus continues to spread.
In rare cases, polio infections surface in other countries caused by one type of polio vaccine that is no longer used - OPV - which contains small amounts of weakened but live poliovirus.
The UN agencies noted that only one case of wild poliovirus had been reported in Afghanistan since the start of the year, providing "an extraordinary opportunity to eradicate polio".
"Restarting polio vaccination now is crucial for preventing any significant resurgence of polio within the country and mitigating the risk of cross-border and international transmission," they said.
Herve Ludovic De Lys, UNICEF's representative in Afghanistan, stressed that "to eliminate polio completely, every child in every household across Afghanistan must be vaccinated".
"With our partners, this is what we are setting out to do."
The UN agencies said that children under five would also be provided with an extra dose of Vitamine A during the campaign.
The discussions with the Taliban leadership had also resulted in agreement on the need to "immediately start measles and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns", they said//CNA
October
China hopes to work closer with US firms in NEVs, biopharma -industry minister
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO : China and US flag before a meeting in 2018 -
China hopes U.S. firms will strengthen their cooperation with Chinese companies in the areas of new energy vehicles, biopharma and next-generation information and communication technology, the country's industry minister said on Monday.
Xiao Yaqing, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, made the comments at a video conference meeting with the chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council, according to a statement posted on the ministry's official WeChat account.
Xiao also said that U.S. and Chinese firms were interdependent in the global industrial chain and that China welcomes U.S. companies to expand their investment in China, the statement said//CNA