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July
Australian PM Morrison's approval rating slumps on slow vaccine rollout
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval ratings fell to the lowest level in more than a year, according to a poll published on Monday, as a sluggish COVID-19 vaccine rollout dented voters' confidence in his conservative government. (Reuters)
July
Kazakhstan considers producing second Russian vaccine locally
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his cabinet on Monday to look into the possibility of importing and locally producing the Russian-developed Sputnik Light vaccine, his office said. (Reuters)
July
World leaders pledge to redouble pandemic fight at special APEC meeting
Written by Nur Yasmin
Leaders of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and China's Xi Jinping, pledged on Friday to work to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.
The leaders, struggling to tame outbreaks exacerbated by the Delta variant of coronavirus, said they would encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies "on mutually agreed terms" as the region prepared for future health shocks.
"The pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our region’s people and economies," the leaders said in a joint statement issued after a virtual meeting chaired by New Zealand.
"We will only overcome this health emergency by accelerating equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines," they said.
The APEC leaders met virtually to discuss collective actions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.
New Zealand, the revolving Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation host, said this week it would chair the extraordinary meeting ahead of a formal gathering in November, the first time such an additional meeting has been held. read more
"Our discussions moved us beyond vaccine nationalism. Now we are focusing on all aspects of contributing to the global vaccination effort — making vaccines, sharing vaccines and using vaccines," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said after the meeting. She said the leaders agreed this will not be the world's last pandemic and that preparedness was critical.
The meeting highlights growing concerns around COVID-19, which is raging in the region as countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Australia face new waves of infections.
U.S.-CHINA TENSIONS
The White House said Biden emphasized the importance of multilateral cooperation and his commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
"President Biden also discussed the importance of investing in better global health security and preparedness so that we are ready the next time we face a pandemic," it said in a statement.
Putin told the group that global barriers to vaccine production and deliveries needed to be removed, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed his determination to hold a safe and secure Olympics.
Despite their show of resolve, there are tensions among APEC members, most notably between the West and China - over issues ranging from the origins of the coronavirus to trade, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.
Just as the meeting concluded, Washington announced sanctions on seven Chinese individuals over Beijing's crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, its latest effort to hold Beijing accountable for what it calls an erosion of rule of law in the former British colony.
The United States and China have a troubled relationship and they have had little high-level, face-to-face contact under the Biden administration since a March meeting between senior officials in Alaska, where the Chinese side expressed anger at U.S. sanctions announced just ahead of the talks. read more
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said China's Xi delivered pre-recorded video remarks at the meeting and was not in attendance. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The APEC grouping includes the world's three largest economies and impoverished nations such as Papua New Guinea, as well as members at vastly different points in the COVID-19 cycle, providing further challenges for building consensus.
That consensus model of APEC has been tested in recent years, with the group unable to agree on a communique at their 2018 meeting in Papua New Guinea, driven by differences between China and the then U.S. president, Donald Trump.
The 2019 APEC meeting in Chile was cancelled due to protests while the one in Malaysia last year was side-tracked as officials hastily organised a virtual meeting as the pandemic locked down the world.
In June, APEC trade ministers agreed to review trade barriers and expedite the cross-border transit of COVID-19 vaccines and related goods, but stopped short of a broad commitment to remove tariffs which New Zealand was pushing for.
There have been over 50 million cases of COVID-19 within APEC's borders, with over 1 million deaths. APEC-wide GDP contracted by 1.9% in 2020. (Reuters)
July
Singapore reports 88 new local COVID-19 cases, highest in 11 months
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore's health ministry reported 88 new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest daily toll since August last year, driven by growing clusters of infections linked to karaoke bars and a fishery port.
The outbreak at karaoke or KTV lounges and bars had led the city-state to tighten some restrictions on social gatherings just a week after easing them. read more
Of Sunday's cases, 23 belong to the KTV cluster and 37 are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, the health ministry said in its preliminary report.
As a precaution, authorities on Sunday shut fresh fish and seafood stalls in markets across the city-state as it tested stallholders for COVID-19.
It said COVID-19 clusters had been uncovered involving fishmongers who visited the Jurong Fishery Port to collect their stock to sell at the markets.
Singapore is also racing to find people linked to the clusters at the KTV lounges, but there are concerns some patrons could be reluctant to come forward. (Reuters)
July
Russia offered U.S. use of Central Asia bases for Afghan intel - paper
Written by Nur Yasmin
President Vladimir Putin in June offered U.S. counterpart Joe Biden the use of Russian military bases in Central Asia for information gathering from Afghanistan, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Saturday, as American troops leave the country.
Taliban fighters have made major advances as U.S. forces pull out after 20 years of war, a security headache for Moscow which fears refugees may be pushed into its Central Asian backyard and its southern defensive flank destabilised. read more
In a rare offer during a period of frosty relations between Washington and Moscow, Putin proposed at June 16 talks with Biden in Geneva that they coordinate on Afghanistan and put Russia's bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to "practical use", Kommersant reported, citing sources.
The newspaper said this could involve the exchange of information obtained using drones but that there had been no concrete response from the U.S. side. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Biden administration was in talks with Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan about temporarily taking in thousands of Afghans who worked with U.S. forces and now face threats from the Taliban, citing three sources familiar with the matter. read more
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said the U.S. and NATO alliance withdrawal from Afghanistan made the political and military situation more uncertain, which in turn exacerbated the terrorist threat in the region.
Speaking at a conference with senior Central Asian officials in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, Lavrov said Russia wanted to help kickstart peace talks between the warring sides in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
July
Taliban leader 'favours political settlement' to Afghan conflict: Statement
Written by nuke
A man standing on Afghanistan's side of the border holds a Taliban flag as people walk towards a border crossing point in Pakistan AFP/Banaras KHAN -
The Taliban's supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada on Sunday (Jul 18) said he "strenuously favours" a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan even as the hardline Islamist movement has launched a sweeping offensive across the nation.
The announcement comes as representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents sat down for a new round of talks in Doha over the weekend, stirring hopes that the long stalled peace talks were being resuscitated.
"In spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate strenuously favors a political settlement in the country," Akhundzada said in a message released ahead of next week's Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
"Every opportunity for the establishment of an Islamic system, peace and security that presents itself will be made use of by the Islamic Emirate," he added.
For months, the two sides have been meeting on and off in the Qatari capital, but have achieved little if any notable success with the discussions appearing to have lost momentum as the militants made enormous gains on the battlefield.
The two sides were due to talk again on Sunday.
The Taliban leader said his group remained committed to forging a solution to end the war but slammed "the opposition parties" for "wasting time".
"Our message remains that instead of relying on foreigners, let us resolve our issues among ourselves and rescue our homeland from the prevailing crisis," he added.
The insurgents have capitalised on the last stages of the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops from Afghanistan to launch a series of lightning offensives across large swathes of the country.
The group is now believed to control roughly half of the nation's 400 districts, several important border crossings, and have laid siege to a string of vital provincial capitals.
Questions remain over how firm of a hand the Taliban's leaders have with commanders on the ground and whether they will be able to convince them to abide by a potential agreement if signed.
The leader's statement notably made no mention of a formal ceasefire call for the Eid holidays.
Over the years, the Taliban have announced a series of short truces during Islamic holidays that initially spurred hopes that a larger reduction of violence would be implemented in the country.
However the group has more recently been criticised for using the temporary ceasefires to resupply and replenish their fighters, allowing them to launch withering onslaughts on Afghanistan's security forces once the truce expires.
The US-led military coalition has been on the ground in Afghanistan for nearly two decades following an invasion launched in the aftermath of the Sep 11, 2001 attacks.
Fears are growing that Afghan forces will be overwhelmed without the vital air support they provide, allowing for a complete Taliban military takeover or the start of a multi-sided civil war in a country awash with large stockpiles of weapons following nearly four decades of fighting//CNA
July
Olympics-First competitors in athletes' village infected with COVID-19
Written by nuke
Security staff stand guard at the entrance of the Athletes Village, where a person has tested positive for COVID-19, ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon -
Tokyo Olympics organisers on Sunday reported the first COVID-19 cases among competitors residing in the athletes' village, as its population swells ahead of the start of the pandemic-hit Games next week.
Two athletes from the same country and competing in the same sport staying in the village in the Harumi waterfront district tested positive for the virus, organisers said without providing further details.
An International Olympic Committee member from South Korea tested positive for the coronavirus on landing in Tokyo. Ryu Seung-min, a former Olympic athlete, is vaccinated, reflecting the infection risk even from vaccinated attendees.
The new infections are testing organisers' layered testing regime designed to ensure COVID cases are quickly caught and isolated. Proponents argue that the growing number of cases underscores the strength of the testing system.
Infection rates are climbing among Tokyo's general population, topping 1,000 new cases for four consecutive days. Polls show many Japanese oppose holding the Games with the influx of overseas visitors it entails.
The rainy season ended in Tokyo on Friday, bringing blue skies and intense heat. The burden on participants has been increased by virus countermeasures like masking.
"While we have been dealing with COVID matters, we haven't taken our focus off the heat," said Dr David Hughes, chief medical officer at the Australian Olympic Committee.
Officials point to heat countermeasures including the distribution of drinks and salt tablets and the use of misting towers and cooling vests.
The delayed Olympics was intended to showcase a modern, diverse Japan at a time of rising regional rivalries but the pandemic has left the country hosting a pared down event.
July
Vietnam puts southern region in lockdown as COVID-19 surge grows
Written by nuke
A delivery man rides a scooter on a quiet street in Vung Tau, Vietnam, on Jul 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) -
Vietnam put its entire southern region in a two-week lockdown starting midnight on Sunday (Jul 18), as confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 3,000 for the third day in a row.
The lockdown order includes the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City metropolis, the country’s financial and economic hub with more than 35 million people — nearly a third of Vietnam's population.
Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the surge, had already announced a full lockdown a week ago, after dozens of cases were reported in late May. The city now accounts for most of the cases in the country with more than 2,000 daily.
“The situation is getting serious with a high rate of transmission, especially with the dangerous delta variant. We have to put the health and safety of the people as top priority,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was quoted as saying in announcing the restrictions.
The government order bans all gatherings of more than two people in public places except for government offices, hospitals and a handful of essential businesses. People are requested to only leave home to buy necessities such as food, medicine, or for vital matters.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the country’s committee for COVID-19 pandemic prevention, said the lockdown order must be applied strictly since the latest wave has spread to 57 of the country’s 63 municipalities and provinces while the vaccine supply is still limited.
“We have to keep the transmission rate at the lowest possible to ensure the health system functions effectively and is not being overloaded,” Dam said.
According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam has received only about 6 million of the 124 million doses of vaccine it had secured through the UN-backed COVAX facility and in direct orders with vaccine manufactures.
July
Environmental concerns grow as space tourism lifts off
Written by nuke
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which combusts as water vapor AFP/Handout -
After years of waiting, Richard Branson's journey to space this month on a Virgin Galactic vessel was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming. Instead, the jaunt attracted significant criticism - about its carbon footprint.
With Jeff Bezos set to launch on a Blue Origin rocket on Jul 20, and Elon Musk's SpaceX planning an all-civilian orbital mission in September, the nascent space tourism industry finds itself facing tough questions about its environmental impact.
"The carbon dioxide emissions are totally negligible compared to other human activities or even commercial aviation," NASA's chief climate advisor Gavin Schmidt told AFP.
But some scientists are worried about the potential for longer term harm as the industry is poised for major growth, particularly impacts to the ozone layer in the still poorly understood upper atmosphere.
Virgin Galactic, which came under fire in op-eds on CNN and Forbes, as well as on social media, for sending its billionaire founder to space for a few minutes in a fossil fuel-guzzling spaceship, says its carbon emissions are about equivalent to a business-class ticket from London to New York.
The company "has already taken steps to offset the carbon emissions from its test flights and is examining opportunities to offset the carbon emissions for future customer flights, and reduce our supply chain's carbon footprint", it said in a statement to AFP.
But while transatlantic flights carry hundreds of people, Virgin's emissions work out to around 4.5 tonnes per passenger in a six passenger flight, according to an analysis published by French astrophysicist Roland Lehoucq and colleagues in The Conversation.
"The issue here is really one of disproportionate impacts," Darin Toohey, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder told AFP.
"I actually grew up on the space program and that got me into science ... but if someone offered me a free ride, I would be very nervous taking it because I would know that my own footprint is way larger than it should be," he said.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo uses a type of synthetic rubber as fuel and burns it in nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The fuel pumps black carbon into upper stratosphere, 30km to 50km high.
Once there, these particles can have multiple impacts, from reflecting sunlight and causing a nuclear winter effect, to accelerating chemical reactions that deplete the ozone layer, which is vital to protecting people from harmful radiation.
"We could be at a dangerous point," said Toohey, who wants more scientific investigations into these effects before the launches become more frequent.
Virgin has said it wants to conduct 400 flights a year.
Compared to Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes, Blue Origin's are much cleaner, according to a recent paper by scientist Martin Ross of Aerospace, which Bezos' company plugged on Twitter.
That is because it burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which combusts as water vapor.
Ross' paper found Blue Origin's vertical launch reusable rocket causes a hundred times less ozone loss and 750 times less climate forcing magnitude than Virgin's, according to ballpark calculations.
But that does not mean it is totally clean.
"It takes electricity to make liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen," Ross told AFP.
"You could go back and calculate how much electricity was used to make the propellant," he said. "It depends how far back in the supply chain you look."
The world is far more aware of the climate crisis now than when these companies were founded in the early 2000s and that could encourage businesses to look at ways to minimize pollution through cleaner technologies to get ahead of the problem//CNA
July
All adults in Britain offered a COVID-19 shot ahead of Monday reopening
Written by nuke
People queue outside a vaccination centre for young people and students at the Hunter Street Health Centre, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, June 5, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls -
Every adult in the United Kingdom has been offered a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Sunday (Jul 18), ahead of the end of legal restrictions in England on Monday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's target was for every adult who wanted to a shot to be able to get one by Jul 19.
Johnson is proceeding with the full re-opening of the economy despite a fresh surge of cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant. New infections are running at their highest level since January.
Some scientists have expressed concern about the re-opening given the high case rates, the substantial proportion of the population which is not yet fully vaccinated and the projected increases in hospitalisations and deaths.
Johnson's health minister, Sajid Javid, on Saturday said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating.
Johnson argues that the vaccine rollout has substantially weakened the link between COVID cases and deaths, and that summer is the best time to reopen the economy since pressures on the health service are lower
"Thank you again to everyone coming forward, and to those helping others to get jabbed. You are the reason we are able to cautiously ease restrictions next week, and return closer towards normal life," Johnson said in a statement//CNA