Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 15 February - 22 February 2021

Economic

Facebook blocks Australian news sites

Social media giant Facebook on Feb 17 blocked news content sharing in Australia, in response to a new media law that is under consideration. The dispute stems from Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, which would require Facebook and Google to negotiate with news outlets for payment for their content or potentially face fines. The rule was introduced in the Australian parliament in December. Facebook's decision also means that people outside of Australia cannot view or share Australian news on the site. Even Facebook's own page also appeared blank to users in Australia. Facebook's ban on news content impacted several emergency services in Australia, as pages that warn the public about COVID-19 outbreaks, bushfires, and cyclones went blank. Google, which previously threatened to leave Australia, took a different route from Facebook on Feb 17. Google agreed to a deal with News Corp for three years and includes all other media outlets under the company, including the Wall Street Journal in the US, The Times in the UK, and Sky News in Australia. Click here to read... [2]

China tightens online lending rules in fresh blow to Jack Ma’s Ant Group

China’s banking regulator has tightened rules governing how online lending platforms fund their loans, a move that analysts say could hit the valuation of Jack Ma’s Ant Group. Under the rule changes announced over the weekend by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, online lending platforms will have to contribute 30 per cent of the funding for loans they offer in partnership with banks. The CBIRC will also cap how much capital commercial banks can commit to online lending in co-operation with tech platforms. The new rules will come into force next year. The draft of the new regulations released late last year caused Chinese tech stocks to tumble and was one of the catalysts for the abrupt cancellation of the proposed $37bn listing of Alibaba’s online payments and lending arm, Ant Group, in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ant, which uses algorithms to determine the loans individuals are eligible for, is set to come under even more valuation pressure due to the new rules, experts said. Click here to read... [3]

Boeing: US Federal Aviation Administration calls for emergency checks

Boeing 777 planes with a certain type of engine will have to undergo "immediate, stepped-up inspections," the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in an emergency airworthiness directive issued on Feb 21.The FAA issued the emergency directive in the wake of an airline incident on Feb 20.Debris from a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 passenger plane fell onto a suburb of the US city of Denver after its right engine experienced failure shortly after takeoff. The directive applies to Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt and Whitney PW4000 engines. It "will likely mean that some airplanes will be removed from service," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement. The initial review of Feb 20's engine failure shows "inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes," Dickson added. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has been plagued with issues surrounding a different model, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 model. It was involved in two major crashes that killed more than 340 people in total. The model has since returned to European and US skies, after Boeing made changes to the design. Click here to read... [4]

China not targeting US in rare-earth exports, but option remains- Global Times

China's rare-earth exports to the US are not being restricted and are continuing unaffected, but reviews of such an option may have been done and measures could be taken against foreign companies that hurt China's interests, when necessary, experts and industry sources said. Western media reports claimed that China is imposing export controls on rare-earth minerals that are crucial for the production of the US F-35 fighter jets and other advanced weaponry, The Financial Times reported on Feb 16, citing unidentified sources.However, several senior industry analysts reached by the Global Times on Feb 17 said that China has not imposed any export controls on rare earths that target the US."China does not restrict rare-earth exports to the US except on the basis of counter-terrorism and national security ground, or in extreme circumstances such as during wartime," a senior industry insider told the Global Times on condition of anonymity, noting that the current exports to the US are based on market demand, both in price and volume. Click here to read... [5]

Traders rush to supply fuel to America

Massive refining outages in the US state of Texas due to freezing weather has led to a flurry of fuel tanker bookings from Europe, while several carriers were diverting away from the US Gulf Coast, traders and analysts said. The cold snap has halted about one-fifth of the United States’ refining capacity and nearly all oil and natural gas production in west Texas. Traders were looking to fill the gap in refinery supplies with bookings from elsewhere.US Atlantic coast imports of diesel and gasoil from other countries was seen at 380,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February, at the same level of a multi-year high reached in November, according to oil analytics firm Vortexa. The rise is led largely by higher intake from northwest Europe, with 140,000 bpd of imports, a multi-year high, Vortexa said. Gasoline exports from Europe to North America have also spiked. Loadings of gasoline and blending components along the route were pegged at 417,000 bpd Feb. 1-18, according to Vortexa, the highest level since July 2020, and 27 percent higher than average for the prior three months. Click here to read... [6]

UAE unveils $1.36bn in arms deals at Abu Dhabi weapons show

Major arms makers are attending a weapons show in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, hoping to seal deals with militaries across the Middle East. At the opening, the UAE revealed that it had signed $1.36bn in local and foreign arms deals to supply its forces with everything from South African drones to Serbian artillery. Although the figure surpasses the 2019 show’s opening announcement, defence experts anticipate a drop in military spending this year as the pandemic and slumping global oil prices squeeze budgets in the Gulf region. The biennial trade fair, the International Defense Exhibition and Conference, is Abu Dhabi’s first big in-person event since the outbreak of the coronavirus – a sign of its significance to the city that has maintained tight movement restrictions in recent months. Big American companies turned up but kept a low profile. Lockheed Martin representatives standing beside models of stealth F-35 fighters were tight-lipped amid the Biden administration’s review of several significant foreign arms sales initiated by former President Donald Trump, including a massive $23bn transfer of the F-35s to the UAE. Click here to read... [7]

Texas Winter Storm Strikes Chip Makers, Compounding Supply Woes

Severe weather conditions hitting much of the U.S. have caused some semiconductor companies to idle production capacity, threatening to exacerbate a chip shortage that has already prompted car makers to curtail output at some plants. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. , one of the world’s biggest chip makers, operates two factories in Austin, Texas, and was asked by local authorities to shut those down on Feb 16, said a company spokeswoman. Texas has suffered widespread power disruptions that began early Feb 15 amid a severe winter storm. The outages have prompted local officials to ask companies to reduce operations to minimize demand on the region’s power grid. The Austin facilities represent about 28% of Samsung’s overall production capacity, according to Citi analysts. Austin is a manufacturing hub for Samsung, which is considering a $17 billion plan to expand its operations there or in other parts of the U.S. Dutch chip company NXP Semiconductors NV said Feb 17 that it had to scale back work at two facilities in Austin. “Affected customers are being notified directly by NXP of the potential for supply disruptions,” the company said. Click here to read... [8]

Real estate is king for China's cities as tax revenues stumble

China's regional governments are taking in proceeds from land sales that are equivalent to more than half of the country's combined tax revenue as coronavirus relief measures diminish traditional intake from levies. This has buoyed the budgets of big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which are seeing sustained building booms, but has done little to help other cities where real estate markets are in a funk. Sales of government land brought 16% more in revenue last year at 8.41 trillion Yuan ($1.30 trillion), a sum equivalent to the value-added tax and corporate income tax, two mainstays of China's tax regime, combined. Due to tax cuts targeted at fighting the pandemic and the slowdown in economic growth, overall tax receipts collected by the central and local governments shrank 2.3% to 15.43 trillion Yuan in 2020, the first decline in 44 years. This put the intake from land sales at 55% of that figure, up from 26% in 2015. Click here to read... [9]

Strategic

Quad vows to work with ASEAN and Europe in first Biden-era meeting

Four weeks after the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, the top diplomats of the U.S., Japan, Australia and India met by phone Thursday for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, signalling that the grouping of like-minded democracies will remain a crucial policymaking platform for the Indo-Pacific region. The 90-minute conference call, which Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi described in a tweet as "an extremely in-depth discussion," saw Motegi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discuss Myanmar, the East and South China seas, North Korea, COVID-19, and climate change. That this meeting came so soon after Biden's inauguration is a sign of the administration's "strong commitment to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific and to the Quad," Motegi told reporters. The meeting was convened at Washington's request, the first such gathering under the Quad framework since October. Click here to read... [10]

G-7 leaders say 2021 will be turning point for multilateralism

Leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations vowed to make the year 2021 a turning point for multilateralism, seeking to forge a united front on tackling the coronavirus crisis and cutting carbon emissions. The virtual meeting held Feb 19 was the G-7 debut for U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The gathering provided an opportunity to start rebuilding ties frayed under previous U.S. President Donald Trump and his "America First" approach."Drawing on our strengths and values as democratic, open economies and societies, we will work together and with others to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism and to shape a recovery that promotes the health and prosperity of our people and planet," the leaders said in a joint statement released after the meeting. China was mentioned only once in the statement, relating to the G-7's support for a "fair and mutually beneficial global economic system." The leaders said they would engage especially with "G-20 countries including large economies such as China" and affirmed their commitment toward addressing "non-market-oriented policies and practices." Click here to read... [11]

US must scrap tariffs and end restrictions on Chinese tech, Wang Yi says

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States to scrap tariffs on Chinese imports and remove restrictions on the tech sector, laying out conditions for restoring damaged China-US relations. Wang told a forum in Beijing on Feb 22 that relations were at a critical point and the US must review its policy if ties were to be repaired after the damage of the former Trump administration.“We hope the US will adjust its policies as soon as possible, removing the unreasonable tariffs imposed on Chinese products, and unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and science research institutes, and the unreasonable suppression of Chinese tech,” Wang said. Wang’s demands followed comments by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week that Washington would keep the tariffs in place for now but would evaluate how to proceed after a thorough review. added that the differences between the two countries could be managed with more high-level dialogue. Chinese diplomats have repeatedly called for more dialogue with Washington since Biden’s inauguration. Click here to read... [12]

China’s ‘two sessions’: why this year’s event is so important for Xi Jinping’s vision for the future

The meeting of the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, and the top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is always important in terms of shaping the political agenda for the year ahead. But this year’s event, which starts in early March, also sees the beginning of the latest five-year plan for the economy, which gives the leadership an opportunity to outline longer-term plans that could come to define President Xi Jinping’s legacy and the party’s future. The year carries extra political weight for Xi because of the Communist Party’s centenary and he has promised “grand celebrations” to mark the event in July. He has already signalled confidence in the direction that the party and country are taking, telling senior officials in January that the world is facing “turbulent times … but time and momentum are on our side”. But he has also warned that the country faces “unprecedented challenges and opportunities”. The leadership has also indicated it will step up its efforts to maintain political and social order ahead of the July celebrations, with public security minister Zhao Kezhi telling police chiefs to regard any challenges to the authorities – including online – as “battlefields” on which they must be ready to fight. Click here to read... [13]

U.S. concerned China's new coast guard law could escalate maritime disputes

The United States is concerned by China's recently enacted coast guard law and that it could escalate maritime disputes and be invoked to assert unlawful claims, the U.S. State Department said on Feb 19. China, which has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, passed a law last month that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels. State Department spokesman Ned Price told a regular briefing Washington was "concerned by language in the law that expressly ties the potential use of force, including armed force, by the China coast guard to the enforcement of China's claims, and ongoing territorial and maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas."He said language, "strongly implies this law could be used to intimidate (China's) maritime neighbours.""We are further concerned that China may invoke this new law to assert its unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, which were thoroughly repudiated by the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling," he said, referring to an international ruling that found in favour of the Philippines in a dispute with China. Click here to read... [14]

Afghanistan: Why NATO's indecision could be a precursor to civil war

NATO made no decision on whether or when to pull out of Afghanistan, the military alliance's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb 18."We are faced with many dilemmas, and there are no easy options," Stoltenberg told journalists after talks between defence ministers in Brussels."If we stay beyond May 1, we risk more violence, more attacks against our own troops," he said. "But if we leave, then we will also risk that the gains that we have made are lost."An agreement struck in February 2020 between the Taliban and the United States calls for all US and NATO forces to leave Afghanistan by May 1 in exchange for the Taliban to reduce violence and cooperate with President Ashraf Ghani's government. However, the Taliban has increased violent attacks, and the so-called "intra-Afghan" talks with the government have gone nowhere. The Taliban have not attacked a single US soldier in Afghanistan since the Doha deal. They have, however, significantly increased their assaults on Afghan security forces and prominent Afghan citizens. Click here to read... [15]

Authorities warn of water level drop at damaged Fukushima nuclear plant after recent magnitude-7.3 earthquake

The Japanese authorities have sounded the alarm after the cooling-water level in two wrecked reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant began falling following a powerful earthquake in the area last week. The water level has fallen by as much as 70cm (27in) in the plant’s Unit 1 and 30cm (11in) in Unit 3. The suspected impact on the containment chambers in their reactors was caused by Feb 20’s quake, in which some 180 people sustained mostly minor injuries, and there was disruption to power and water supplies, and damage to high-speed rail networks and numerous homes. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) spokesman Keisuke Matsuo warned of possible additional damage at the plant that could further frustrate its decades-long decommissioning process. To make matters worse, Fukushima’s 1.37-million-ton contaminated-water storage facility will be full by next summer. The decision on whether to dump its contents into the sea – widely viewed as a highly controversial proposal – is still pending. Click here to read... [16]

French anti-Islamism bill prompted by beheading of teacher near Paris clears 1st hurdle in parliament

A French bill designed to stop the spread of radical Islam and defend secular values has been approved by the lower house of parliament. The legislation was proposed after the murder of teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist attacker. The bill, aimed at defending “republican principles,” was approved by the National Assembly on Feb 16. According to BFM TV, the legislation will now be moved to the Senate, where it will be considered on March 30.Although the bill never mentions radical Islam by name, it was introduced by the government in response to a string of high-profile Islamist attacks in France last year. Nevertheless, the legislation is not targeted against any particular religion, but against “religious fanaticism” in general, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in December when the draft was first unveiled. The bill allows for stronger oversight of religious groups, NGOs and associations, as well as of homeschooling practices. It will also provide tools for prosecuting people for online hate speech, doxing, and making threats to public servants. Click here to read... [17]

IAEA chief to visit Iran as country prepares to scale back cooperation with nuclear watchdog

The upcoming visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) director general, Rafael Grossi, was announced Feb 17 by Iran’s envoy to the watchdog, Kazem Gharibabadi.“IAEA DG travels to Tehran on Feb 21 for technical discussions with the Atomic Energy Organization (of Iran) on how to continue cooperation in the light of new arrangements and development,” Gharibabadi wrote on Twitter, without providing any further detail.The snap visit comes after Tehran confirmed its plans to drastically scale back its cooperation with the IAEA under the crumbling 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran said it would stop implementation of the so-called Additional Protocol, which grants the IAEA powers to perform short-notice inspections at locations linked to the Iranian nuclear program. The transparency measure enabled the watchdogs’ experts to check such facilities without the need to declare their visits beforehand. The new step away from the landmark agreement was decided under an act of Iran’s parliament in December and comes into force as the country continues to pressure Washington into returning to the deal. Click here to read... [18]

Biden plans to 'recalibrate' Saudi relations in shot at MbS: White House

President Joe Biden plans to shift U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and will conduct diplomacy through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said on Feb 16. The announcement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was an abrupt reversal in U.S. policy from Biden's Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, whose son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with the crown prince. The Trump White House had found MbS the leader to deal with in Saudi Arabia and worked with him on a variety of areas, such as resolving a rift between Qatar and other Gulf nations. As for questions about whether Biden would speak to the crown prince, Psaki said Biden is returning to "counterpart to counterpart" engagement. "The president's counterpart is King Salman and I expect at an appropriate time he will have a conversation with him. I don’t have a prediction on the timeline for that," she said. Click here to read... [19]

Pakistan efforts to mend fences with Saudi-led bloc bear fruit

Pakistan has suddenly found itself in stronger standing with a Saudi-led bloc of Arab nations, having managed to mend a rift while maintaining ties to another alliance that is challenging the Saudis' leadership of the Muslim world. The most recent sign of this rapprochement came last week when Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited Egypt to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his counterpart Sameh Shoukry and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the organization's headquarters. Pakistan's foreign office says the discussions focused on economics, but experts believe they were a continuation of Pakistan's wider efforts to mend ties with the Saudi bloc that frayed in August when Qureshi issued a statement against the Saudi kingdom. In the statement, Qureshi asked the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of Islamic Cooperation to stop dillydallying on convening a meeting of its Council of Foreign Ministers on Kashmir. James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told Nikkei Asia that several factors are at play, including Pakistan's Shiite population, doubts about the U.S. commitment to the region and Saudi Arabia's desire to recognize Israel. Click here to read... [20]

South Korea agrees to partial release of blocked Iranian money

South Korea has agreed to release “a part” of billions of dollars of Iranian money it had blocked in its banks for years because of United States sanctions. In a statement, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said South Korean Ambassador to Tehran Ryu Jeong-hyun announced the news in a meeting his embassy called for Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had said in an interview on Feb 21 Iran’s funds in South Korea were “close to $10bn”.Iran seized a South Korean vessel in its waters in early January for “environmental pollution”, saying the issue must not be politicised as it was unrelated to the blocked funds. While the Joe Biden administration and Iran continue to disagree on which side should come back into full compliance under the deal first, Biden has signalled he wants to restore the historic nuclear accord. Earlier this week, he lifted restrictions on Iranian diplomats in New York and took back Trump’s disputed claim that all United Nations sanctions on Iran were reinstated last year. Click here to read... [21]

Biden, Netanyahu finally make call

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid any tensions to rest Feb 17 by finally holding their first phone call since the change of administration in Washington. Netanyahu was one of the last foreign leaders to get a call from Biden, who took office on January 20, despite Israel's special relationship with the US. But both sides stressed their close ties during the call. The White House said Biden registered "support" for a series of agreements brokered by his predecessor Donald Trump on normalizing relations between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries. And Biden "affirmed his personal history of steadfast commitment to Israel's security and conveyed his intent to strengthen all aspects of the US-Israel partnership, including our strong defence cooperation," a White House statement said. Click here to read... [22]

Chinese military to build new-type training system amid external threats

A detailed report, published by the PLA Daily on Feb 20, explained that the decision asked the Chinese military to train as if exercises are real wars, boost joint exercises, enhance training with technology, strengthen talent support and follow patterns and laws of training and winning wars. Intensive training of not only soldiers but also commanders and the creation of realistic battlefield environments are among the priorities, according to the PLA Daily report. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Feb 21 that compared with previous training systems applied by the PLA, the new system puts more stresses on coupling training with real combat, to the extent that the two need to be highly identical. The new system also requires new methods, including the deployment of training equipment and the means to support it, to make drills more like real wars, Song said. Unlike the US military, which has operated around the globe and has been constantly in battles, which means it retains its sharpness, China has not fought a real war for decades, so training is one of only a few ways to hone combat capabilities, another Chinese military expert told the Global Times. Click here to read... [23]

Anti-Daesh coalition to set up military base along Turkish-Syrian border

The US-led anti-Daesh coalition is to establish a new military base along the Turkish-Syrian border to weed out any remnants of the terror organization — a key Middle East policy priority of American President Joe Biden’s administration. The base will be located in the Ain Dewar area of Syria’s north eastern province of Hasakah. Last month, Russian military police were deployed near a highway used by the US in Ain Dewar village, north of the city of Derik, to send logistic and military enhancements to its bases in Iraq.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the arrival of the new convoy of the coalition, with more than 50 vehicles and trucks, to the Syrian territory last week.The military convoy, carrying armoured vehicles, logistical equipment, and weapons was reportedly seen crossing into north eastern Syria from the Kurdistan Regional Government-ruled area of northern Iraq. Click here to read... [24]

US reiterates commitment to enhance security ties with Philippines

Washington will continue to find ways to strengthen and advance security cooperation with the Philippines, its “oldest” ally in the region, the US State Department has told Arab News. It follows the latest demand by President Rodrigo Duterte for the US to pay more if it wants to maintain the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which allows the deployment of American troops in the country. In an unprovoked, angry tirade on Feb 19, during an address to Philippine troops after inspecting newly acquired air assets, Duterte said that if the US wants the VFA to be continue, it would have to pay, citing US-Chinese relations.“It’s a shared responsibility, but your share of responsibility does not come free. Because after all, when the war breaks out, we all pay,” Duterte said. “We are nearest to the garrison there, where there are a lot of arsenals of the Chinese armed forces.” While the State Department’s letter did not directly address Duterte’s demands, it emphasized that it “will continue to look for ways to further strengthen and advance security cooperation that furthers shared security challenges and respects human rights. Click here to read... [25]

Indonesian plan calls for Southeast Asia to hold Myanmar junta to election pledge

Indonesia is pushing Southeast Asian neighbours to agree on an action plan over Myanmar's coup that would keep the junta to its promise of holding elections, with monitors to ensure they are fair and inclusive, three sources familiar with the move said. The proposal from the biggest regional nation falls short of the public demands of protesters and some Western countries for the immediate release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the recognition of the Nov. 8 ballot her party won in a landslide. Two senior officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters a diplomatically led solution had to focus on preventing bloodshed and helping the military to honour its commitment to hold a new election and hand power to the winner. Protesters have scorned the junta's promise of a new election, saying it should recognise the one held last year. The army staged the coup after the electoral commission rejected its accusations of fraud in the November poll. But the junta has not given a timetable for a fresh vote. Click here to read... [26]

U.S. Report Allows Russian Pipeline Project to Proceed, for Now

The State Department in a report to Congress didn’t name new companies as targets for sanctions related to an $11 billion pipeline designed to transmit Russian natural gas to Germany, allowing work on the pipeline to continue unabated for now. Some Republican lawmakers criticized the State Department over the Nord Stream 2 report, which was required by Congress, and both Republicans and a key Democrat requested an explanation of the administration’s position. The Biden administration has called the project a “bad deal,” but Nord Stream 2 is shaping into a pressure point between the new administration and a bipartisan Congressional coalition that has assailed the project. The failure to name any new targets for sanctions allows the work to continue while also providing the administration with time for discussions with Germany about the project and to formulate its own policy on the pipeline. Click here to read... [27]

Medical

Biden pledges $4 billion for COVAX vaccinations program

US President Joe Biden will pledge $4 billion (€3.3 billion) to the COVAX initiative on Feb 19 to boost the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to poor nations. Half of the money will be released "by the end of this month" and the rest over the next two years, a senior White House official told AFP on Feb 18. "The United States is really excited to be making our first contribution to COVAX," said the official. "We do think it is vital to take a role in beating the pandemic globally." The COVAX initiative plans to distribute vaccines to the most vulnerable 20% of people in poor nations. It remains to be seen how fellow G7 members will respond to Biden's calls, as the US refused to take part in the COVAX program under the Donald Trump administration. UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he wanted to seize on the change in US leadership and put three items on top of the G7 agenda: health, climate change and economic rebounding from the pandemic. Click here to read... [28]

EU launches bio-defence preparedness plan against COVID-19 variants

The European Union (EU) on Feb 17 stepped up its efforts to detect and fight COVID-19 variants by bringing together various stakeholders to develop new and adapted vaccines. A new project called "HERA Incubator" will gather researchers, biotech companies, manufacturers and public authorities in the EU and globally to detect new coronavirus variants, provide incentives to develop new and adapted vaccines, speed up the approval process for these vaccines, and ensure the scaling up of manufacturing capacities. The incubator will also serve as a blueprint for the EU's long-term preparedness for health emergencies, the European Commission said in a statement."New variants of the virus are emerging fast and we must adapt our response even faster," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Click here to read... [29]

Don't rely on 'vaccine passports' for travel, WHO's Ryan urges amid shortage of Covid-19 jabs

Covid-19 vaccine certifications should not be used as a condition for travel amid a global shortage of jabs, the World Health Organization's (WHO) emergencies chief said, as it's not clear how much the shots hinder transmission. The UN health agency's emergency committee has not advised the WHO that immunity certification should be a "prerequisite of travel," Mike Ryan said during a news briefing on Feb 15, after being asked about vaccine passports."That is because, number one, vaccines are not widely available. [It] would actually tend to restrict travel more than permit travel," Ryan added."Secondly, we don't have enough data right now to understand to what extent vaccination will interrupt transmission."The official's comments come at a time when multiple countries and airlines are already pursuing so-called vaccine passports, which they say would allow travellers to enter countries without the need to quarantine or be tested for Covid-19 at points of entry. Click here to read... [30]

WHO sends Ebola alerts to 6 countries after outbreak declared in Guinea, as nations hope to avoid 2014–2016 disaster

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned several African nations about possible Ebola infections after new cases were found in Guinea and DR Congo. The last major outbreak in the region killed more than 10,000 people. “We have already alerted the six countries around [them], including of course Sierra Leone and Liberia, and they are moving very fast to prepare and be ready and to look for any potential infection,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said. Guinea has borders with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. An Ebola outbreak was declared in the southern part of Guinea on Feb 14 – the first time the deadly disease has been recorded in the country since 2016. Initial suspicions were raised after a nurse working at a local health facility died late last month. Six people who came to her funeral reported Ebola-like symptoms, and two of them have since died. The death toll from Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever virus, in Guinea grew to five by Feb 16. Click here to read... [31]

Johnson & Johnson submits its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine to WHO for emergency use

Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson has submitted data on its coronavirus vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) as it seeks the agency’s green light for emergency use. Unlike other shots, this one comes in a single dose. The emergency-use approval is a prerequisite for the vaccine joining the WHO-led COVAX watchdog program, J&J said in a statement on Feb 19, revealing it had submitted its paperwork to the UN health body. Unlike vaccine competitors already in the Covid-fighting market, the J&J offering comes in a single-dose form, which would make its distribution considerably easier. Moreover, it can be stored under standard refrigerator temperatures, making it an attractive option for countries with less-developed infrastructure. While Russia’s Sputnik V, British-Swedish AstraZeneca and China’s CoronaVac vaccines can be stored in regular fridges as well, both of the US jabs by Moderna and Pfizer require extremely low temperatures to prevent spoilage. Johnson and Johnson published data on the late-stage trials of its vaccine last month, with the solution showing a rather modest efficacy of 66 percent. Click here to read... [32]

Russia detects world’s 1st case of H5N8 avian flu transmission to humans

Russia said on Feb 20 that its scientists had detected the world's first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organization. In televised remarks, the head of Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain's genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December 2020.The workers did not suffer any serious health consequences, she added. They are believed to have caught the virus from poultry on the farm."Information about the world's first case of transmission of the avian flu (H5N8) to humans has already been sent to the World Health Organization," Popova said. There are different subtypes of avian influenza viruses. While the highly contagious strain H5N8 is lethal for birds, it had never before been reported to have spread to humans. Popova praised "the important scientific discovery," saying "time will tell" if the virus can further mutate. Click here to read... [33]