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International News (6868)

25
February

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Feb. 25 -  The United States expressed concern over Malaysia’s deportation of nearly 1,100 Myanmar nationals and urged countries in the region to hold off on any repatriations in light of the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

24
February

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Feb. 24 - Hiring of workers with digital skills has grown substantially in the last three years across the APEC region, according to a recent report issued by the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group and received here on Tuesday.

The report highlights the gap between workforce supply and demand and emphasizes the urgent need for member economies to invest in digital up-skilling and reskilling of their workforce.

Research by LinkedIn and Burning Glass Technologies in the 'APEC Closing the Digital Skills Gap Report - Trends and Insights' has found that the digital hiring rate across the region increased three-fold between 2016 and 2019.

While the COVID-19 pandemic led to a hiring slowdown in the first quarter of 2020, the report predicts continued strong demand for digital talent, with a greater than one-fold increase in March, 2020 compared to the previous year.

"Digitalization offers us many opportunities and challenges, the most pressing one is to address and manage the discrepancy between industry and education and training systems, where the former moves and innovates a lot faster than the latter," said Park Dong Sun, chair of the APEC Human Resources and Development Working Group.

"COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation and adoption in almost all aspects of our lives, it is extremely critical for policymakers to look into measures to support the up-skilling and reskilling of our workforce," Park added.

The report stresses the importance of reskilling workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as many are looking for new opportunities, and it is "necessary to have at least baseline digital skills". It is also critical to equip new workers with digital skills so they can thrive in the workforce, the report states.

Moreover, as businesses are forced to adjust to a more digital work environment, workers may need to expand their skill set in order to work efficiently and effectively from home or other locations.

In addition to efforts to measure the digital skills gap, the initiative also announced the finalization of a digital readiness checklist designed to help APEC governments, employers, and academia understand their levels of preparedness for jobs in the digital age and to support their efforts to up-skill and reskill workers amidst COVID-19.

"Digital skills and remote work have become critical to retaining employment and to economic survival, with occupations requiring higher levels of digital skills more likely to offer remote work opportunities during these challenging times," explained Andrew Tein of Wiley, co-chair of the APEC Closing the Digital Skills Gap Forum.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the risks for those whose jobs are least digital, such as workers in the front-line services sector. As these least digital jobs are also least open to remote work, workers in this sector are negatively affected, according to the report. This dichotomy may deepen inequality if they do not have the necessary digital skills to transition to other jobs.

"We must come together to prepare the current and next generation of workers to have the digital skills necessary to succeed in the new economy," said Jennifer Thornton of the Business-Higher Education Forum and co-chair of the APEC Closing the Digital Skills Gap Forum.

"A skilled workforce is key to our continued success and to increasing opportunity across APEC economies," she concluded. (Antaranews)

24
February

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Feb. 24 - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday supported a call by French President Emmanuel Macron to donate COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers in Africa, as a star-studded event was announced to support equitable distribution.

“Vaccines are still scarce everywhere but it is in our common interest to share,” von der Leyen said in a webcast with the World Health Organisation (WHO).I

“And I therefore support President Macron’s proposal to donate vaccine doses that are necessary to vaccinate health care workers in Africa.”

 

The European Union has contributed an additional 500 million euros ($606 million) to the WHO-backed COVAX programme to supply COVID-19 shots to emerging economies, doubling the bloc’s initial contribution.

Global Citizen, an international pressure group that aims to end extreme poverty by 2030, launched a campaign to support equitable distribution of vaccines that will feature a broadcast special in May.

Artists scheduled to participate include Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter, Billie Eilish.

 

“A year ago I was three shows into my world tour, when because of COVID-19 we had to cancel everything ... The pandemic is still raging across the globe, and I’m still at home like most of you,” the 19-year-old said.

“But we’ve seen how we can create change, when we come together and use our voices so we’ve got to take action to get everybody access to COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible.” (Reuters)

23
February

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Feb. 23 - China on Monday rejected “slanderous attacks” about conditions for Muslim Uighurs living in Xinjiang, as European powers and Turkey voiced concerns and called for U.N. access to the remote western region.

Activists and U.N. rights experts have said that at least 1 million Muslims are detained in camps in Xinjiang. China denies abuses and says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the U.N. Human Rights Council that it was taking counter-terrorism measures in accordance with the law and that Xinjiang enjoyed “social stability and sound development” after four years without any “terrorist case”.

There were 24,000 mosques in Xinjiang, where people of all ethnic groups also enjoyed labour rights, he said.

“These basic facts show that there has never been so-called genocide, forced labour, or religious oppression in Xinjiang,” Wang said. “Such inflammatory accusations are fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice, they are simply malicious and politically driven hype and couldn’t be further from the truth.”

The Biden administration has endorsed a last-minute determination by the Trump administration that China has committed genocide in Xinjiang and has said the United States must be prepared to impose costs on China.

Earlier, British foreign secretary Dominic Raab denounced torture, forced labour and sterilisations that he said were taking place against Uighurs on an “industrial scale” in Xinjiang.

Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas said that “the arbitrary detention of ethnic minorities like the Uighurs in Xinjiang or China’s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong” required attention.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, said it expected transparency from China on the issue and called for protecting the rights of Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang.

Wang invited U.N. scrutiny but gave no timetable.

“The door to Xinjiang is always open. People from many countries who have visited Xinjiang have learned the facts and the truth on the ground. China also welcomes the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Xinjiang,” he said, referring to U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet, whose office has been negotiating terms of access to the country. (Reuters)

22
February

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Feb. 22 - Malaysia moved up its COVID-19 inoculation drive by two days as the first batch of vaccines arrived in the Southeast Asian nation on Sunday.

Malaysia aims to vaccinate at least 80% of its 32 million people within a year as it pushes to revive an economy that, slammed by coronavirus-related curbs, recorded its worst slump in over two decades in 2020.

It has imposed more lockdowns this year amid a fresh wave of coronavirus infections. The country has recorded 280,272 cases and 1,051 deaths.

A total of 312,390 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were delivered to Malaysia on Sunday morning, with more expected in coming weeks.

“The second delivery will be made on Feb. 26, and we will continue to receive (Pfizer) deliveries every two weeks until it is completed,” Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in a virtual news conference.

Malaysia has secured 32 million doses from Pfizer and BioNTech.

Vaccine doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech are scheduled to be delivered in bulk on Feb. 27, pending approval from local regulators, Khairy said.

The national vaccine rollout will begin Wednesday, earlier than initially scheduled, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Health Ministry Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah set to receive the first doses, Khairy said. (Reuters)

22
February

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Feb. 22 - New Zealand will use its platform as host of an Asia-Pacific trade group in coming months to seek a global approach to coronavirus vaccinations that would eliminate tariffs on goods needed to fight COVID-19.

Amid concerns that smaller nations may be left behind in vaccinating their populations, New Zealand - one of the most successful countries in curbing the pandemic - will make the proposals at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which it will host virtually this year.

“Our message is that to deal with a global pandemic like this we need more global participation,” said Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand’s deputy secretary for trade and economy, who chairs the APEC2021 Senior Officials’ Meeting.

“Trade is not going to solve the crisis but trade can help,” he told Reuters in an interview.

New Zealand proposes making shipments between the 21 APEC members of medicines, medical and surgical equipment, hygiene products an other goods tariff-free and easing other restrictions on their movement across borders.

The proposal would have to agreed on in the next couple of weeks to get approved at the APEC trade ministers’ meeting in May, Vitalis said.

Some APEC nations committed last year to keeping COVID-19 supply chains open and removing trade restrictions on essential goods, especially medical supplies. But there has been no firm action since.

Only New Zealand and Singapore took this further, eliminating tariffs on more than 120 products they deemed essential.

“It’s worrying that only two small countries have done that,” Vitalis said. New Zealand wants a ministerial statement listing pandemic-essential products and services, he said.

It would also ease the movement of coronavirus vaccines through air and sea ports, which has been a growing concern amid smaller nations like New Zealand who fear larger economies will buy up and control medical supplies.

Despite efforts by the World Health Organization to ensure smaller nations get their share of vaccines, experts say richer nations have been hoarding vaccines and essential goods, leaving poorer and smaller nations at their mercy for these products.

New Zealand began vaccinating border workers on Saturday, but most of the country’s 5 million people are not expected to get inoculated until the second half of the year.

Vitalis said “vaccine nationalism,” which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned against last month, is in no one’s interest.

Mutation risks mean a need to avoid “parts of the global population not vaccinated,” he said.

Although vaccine tariffs are low, there are significant charges on equipment like syringes, needles and gloves, which may impede the inoculation process.

The consensus-based APEC has struggled to reach agreements in recent years amid then-President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump last month, has promised a more multilateral approach but is not expected to rush into trade deals with Beijing. [L4N2KF3AC]

The trade-dependent host nation “would like to see APEC go broader on trade liberalisation, but we have to be realistic on what is achievable this year,” said Alan Bollard, the New Zealand-based former executive director of the APEC Secretariat in Singapore.

“COVID-19 is an immediate concern - addressing it is also a chance to ride over ongoing trade barriers,” said Bollard, a former head of New Zealand’s central bank. (Reuters)

21
February

Britain to offer all adults a COVID-19 vaccine by end of July - BBC

 

 

All adults in Britain will be offered a first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday (Feb 20) ahead of a planned announcement on the cautious reopening of the economy from lockdown.

Johnson will set out a roadmap to ease England's third national lockdown on Monday, having met a target to vaccinate 15 million Britons from higher-risk categories by mid-February.

Britain now aims to give a first dose to all over-50s by Apr 15, the government said, having previously indicated it wished them to receive the shot by May.

If all adults receive a dose by the end of July, it will be well ahead of a previous target that they would receive a vaccine by autumn.

After suffering the world's fifth-worst official COVID-19 death toll and a series of mishaps in its pandemic response, Johnson's government moved faster than much of the West to secure vaccine supplies, giving it a head start.

Johnson cautioned that there was a need to avoid complacency, adding that lockdown would only be lifted slowly.

"We will now aim to offer a jab to every adult by the end of July, helping us the most vulnerable sooner, and take further steps to ease some of the restrictions in place," Johnson said in a statement.  

"But there should be no doubt - the route out of lockdown will be cautious and phased, as we all continue to protect ourselves and those around us."

So far, the United Kingdom has given a first dose of vaccine to 17.2 million people, more than a quarter of its 67 million population and behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per head of population.

Two vaccines - one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, and another developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca - are being rolled out, and UK officials have advised that there can be a 12 week gap between doses//CNA

21
February

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison receives a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney on Feb 21, 2021 - Strait Times

 

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was injected on Sunday (Feb 21) with the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, as the nation started its inoculation program a day ahead of schedule.

Up to 4 million Australians are expected to receive a COVID-19 vaccine voluntarily by March, with Morrison and Paul Kelly, the country's chief medical officer, among a small group of Australians receiving the first inoculations.

"We're here making some very important points," Morrison said moments before cameras captured the first person being injected at a medical centre in Sydney. "That it is safe, that it's important, and we need to start with those who are most vulnerable and on the frontline."

Doses of the Pfizer inoculations, which need to be kept at temperatures well below freezing, were still being distributed to 16 vaccine hubs around Australia in preparation for the broader rollout of the vaccines on Monday.

A small number of older Australians at the Castle Hill Medical Centre in the western part of Sydney, aged-care staff, and frontline nurses and workers were among the group injected on Sunday, officials said.

The country is enjoying a second day without a single new COVID-19 transmission in the community, officials said. The vast majority of its population will be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of October.

On Saturday, thousands of people attended anti-vaccine rallies in major Australian cities to protest what they incorrectly believed to be mandatory vaccinations.Australia has reported just under 29,000 COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since March 2020. The country has ranked among the top 10 in a COVID-19 performance index//CNA

21
February

UN Security council to meet on global warming impact on world peace - UN

 

 

The UN Security Council will hold a summit of world leaders on Tuesday (Feb 23) to debate climate change's implications for world peace, an issue on which its 15 members have divergent opinions.

The session, called by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and conducted by video-conference, comes just days after the United States under President Joe Biden formally rejoined the Paris climate change accord.

Johnson, whose country now holds the Security Council's rotating presidency, will address the forum, as will US climate czar John Kerry, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the prime ministers of Ireland, Vietnam, Norway and other countries, diplomats say.

The meeting will serve as a test for US-China relations, one UN ambassador said on condition of anonymity, alluding to one of the few issues where the two big powers might agree. But this is not a given.

Traditionally, the ambassador said, "you know that the Russians and the Chinese will immediately say (climate change has) 'nothing to do' with the council's issues".

Today, however, "the Chinese are more liable to be slightly open to that discussion", which "leaves the Russians pretty much on their own".

Russia does not see climate change as a broad issue for the Security Council to address. Moscow prefers dealing with climate questions on a case-by-case basis, diplomats told AFP.

Tuesday's meeting "will be focused on the security aspects of climate change", a second ambassador said, also on condition of anonymity.

Some non-permanent members of the council including Kenya and Niger have clearly expressed their concerns about climate change's impact on national security.

Others do not want to "turn the Security Council into another organ which is looking just at the issues more broadly around finance, adaptation, mitigation and negotiations," the second ambassador said.

Last year, Germany, which then had a seat on the council, drafted a resolution calling for the creation of a special UN envoy post on climate-related security risks.

One goal of the job would be to improve UN efforts involving risk assessment and prevention.Today, with the new US approach, that draft resolution has a chance of being approved//CNA

20
February

The G7 virtual meeting 2021 - independent.co.uk

 

 

The UK Prime Minister is setting out his ambition to cut the time to develop new vaccines by two-thirds to 100 days, as he chairs the first G7 leaders’ meeting of the UK’s presidency.

The development of a coronavirus vaccine in approximately 300 days was a huge and unprecedented global achievement. By reducing the time to develop new vaccines for emerging diseases even further, we may be able to prevent the catastrophic health, economic and social repercussions seen in this crisis. The 100 day ambition was proposed by CEPI earlier this year.

The UK Prime Minister has also confirmed today that the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from our supply with the COVAX procurement pool to support developing countries, in addition to the UK’s £548 million funding for the scheme. He will be encouraging G7 leaders to increase their funding for COVAX in support of equitable access to vaccines.

“Perhaps more than ever, the hopes of the world rest on the shoulders of scientists and over the last year, like countless times before, they have risen to the challenge" Speaking ahead on Friday meeting, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. 

“The development of viable coronavirus vaccines offers the tantalising prospect of a return to normality, but we must not rest on our laurels. As leaders of the G7 we must say today never again. By harnessing our collective ingenuity, we can ensure we have the vaccines, treatments and tests to be battle-ready for future health threats, as we beat Covid-19 and build back better together" Prime Minister added. 

Meanwhile, on a press statement received by Voice of Indonesia in accordence to this matter, UK's Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins said that the UK decision to donate the majority of any future vaccine surplus to developing countries through COVAX is big, great news. Indonesia is one of the 92 countries eligible for vaccines under COVAX, so is likely to be one of the countries that benefits from this generosity. 

"This comes on top of the UK’s huge donation to GAVI - £548 million – one of the largest donors, and 1/5th of the total funds raised. Now, as the first country to commit to sharing the majority of our surplus vaccines through COVAX, this news show how the UK is a force for good in the world – demonstrating how we should tackle this pandemic with a spirit of togetherness and through our shared multilateral institutions" the Ambassador added. 

"Difficult times lead to innovation. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines has been amazing – and one of the most impressive features of the global pandemic response. Now we have the chance to cement these gains for the future – working globally on every part of vaccine development – through research, trial and production – to benefit everyone. Hopefully these efforts mean we will be more ready than ever before for a future pandemic" The Ambassador also said.  

Delivering on the objectives in the Prime Minister’s Five Point Plan to Prevent Future Pandemics – first set out at the UN last year - will be a key focus of the UK’s G7 presidency this year. 

The UK Prime Minister will also call on G7 leaders to support a treaty on pandemic preparedness through the WHO. 

The meeting will be the first hosted by the UK PM as part of the UK’s G7 Presidency this year and the first gathering of G7 leaders since April 2020.

At the meeting leaders are expected to confirm their support for the UK’s G7 health priorities and discuss wider efforts to address global challenges and secure a sustainable, green economic recovery from coronavirus, as well as a number of foreign policy issues//NK-VOI