Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 19 July - 25 July 2021

Economic

China's domination of global finance about to take a quantum leap

As reported in the Financial Times, "What happens if Chinese household wealth is unleashed on the world?" published on July 5, a Chinese official in the government agency that administers foreign exchange had said in February that officials were considering whether the $50,000 allowance each individual is entitled to could be used to invest in securities and insurance products overseas. At present, it can only be used for expenses such as foreign travel or education costs. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has approved increasing outflows of foreign investment through an official quota. A key reason why Chinese officials are slowly opening up investment possibilities is to tamp down an overinflated domestic market that in many sectors, such as property, is entering bubble territory. China's savings rate is very high, at about 40% of gross domestic product. This compares to an average of less than 35% in other emerging economies and below 25% in most advanced economies. The amounts involved are huge.
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Criticism rises as BOJ becomes top shareholder in domestic market

With shareholdings valued at 51.509 trillion yen ($470 billion), the Bank of Japan has become the largest investor in Japanese stocks, heightening concerns about market distortions and conflicts of interest within the central bank.The exchange-traded funds (ETFs) owned by the BOJ are collectively worth 4.3 trillion yen more than the figure for the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), which was the largest shareholder at the end of fiscal 2019.Released on July 2, the GPIF business report for fiscal 2020 showed it owned 47.227 trillion yen in Japanese stocks. The BOJ’s higher total was listed in its financial data released in May.Rising share prices have bumped up the latent profits on shareholdings of both the BOJ and the GPIF. But the ETFs’ market price for the BOJ has risen more dramatically.The GPIF invests in domestic and overseas stocks and bonds in a balanced manner for a stable increase in funds under the national pension program.Its Japanese stocks reportedly account for around 25 percent of its assets, and it occasionally sells its shares.On the other hand, the BOJ continues buying ETFs as part of its monetary easing policy.
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Drought-plagued Asia aims to harness the rain with weather control

As a heat wave pushes temperatures up to nearly 50 C, a recent video released by the United Arab Emirates shows a city in the arid nation lashed by torrential rain -- the result of a national cloud-seeding operation.The program seen in the video, which was reported by the U.K.-based Independent newspaper, is just one example of emerging economies, particularly China, making their own weather to address the threat posed by droughts and other extreme events made more likely by climate change.China in January conducted a successful maiden flight of its first weather modification drone, the Ganlin-1, whose name means "sweet rain." The unmanned vehicle can operate more efficiently than the manned flights China had used in the past, and at a lower cost, according to Beijing.Ganlin-1 was developed as part of an ambitious weather modification plan announced late last year. Beijing aims to cover 5.5 million sq. kilometers, or 60% of the country's landmass, with its artificial precipitation program by 2025, which would make it one of the largest such projects in history. China hopes to become a top global player in the field by 2035.
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Zhengzhou record rains wash out Apple, Nissan

Zhengzhou, China’s most populous central city and home to producers who supply Apple and Nissan, is still flooded almost 24 hours after being hit by torrential rains on July 20, a weather event some experts have hyperbolically described as “once in a 1,000 years.”The storm smashed China’s, and arguably the world’s, record for hourly rainfall observed in a city at 201.9 millimeters, according to the China Meteorological Administration. This is believed to have broken the national and even global record as roughly half a year’s worth of rain fell within about an hour.The storm is already affecting global supply chains as key plants and partners of Apple and Nissan were said to be revising their production schedules while counting their losses.Foxconn, which churns out Apple’s iPhones and other gadgets from its sprawling plants in the city, has partially suspended production across its bases there.Foxconn had been ramping up its production and making new hires in the run-up to this fall’s new product launch by Apple.
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Russia mulls trade zone in disputed Kuril islands

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited the disputed Kuril Islands July 26 and said authorities wanted to establish a free economic zone there, sparking a protest from Japan.The Kurils, north of Japan’s Hokkaido island, have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in the dying days of World War II.The territorial dispute has kept the two countries from signing a peace accord that would formally end their wartime hostilities. During his visit to Iturup, the largest and northernmost island of the archipelago, Mishustin proposed exempting the islands from customs duty and reducing taxes for businesses.He said the measures would be extended to the main activities on the island with some exemptions, such as the production of alcohol.“This special regime will help intensify economic activity here. I will report these proposals to the Russian President and a relevant decision will be made,” Mishustin said.The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a protest over Mishustin’s visit to the Northern Territories, as they are known in Japan, and summoned the Russian ambassador.
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Japan eyes 10% power output cut by FY 2030 with more renewables

The industry ministry is taking actions to cut Japan's electricity generation by 10 percent by fiscal 2030.It also plans to make nuclear energy and other non-fossil energy sources account for about 60 percent of the power output by bolstering renewables, according to sources.These targets are expected to be incorporated into the new Basic Energy Plan, which may be unveiled as early as July 21. The plan is typically revised every three years, and the ministry has been working on the update to the plan.Japan is ramping up efforts to meet its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent from their level in fiscal 2013 by fiscal 2030.To achieve the target, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is focusing on significantly expanding power generation using renewables and thoroughly implementing energy-conservation measures.The ministry will call on households as well as steel and chemical industries to strive to conserve energy.The reduction is expected to make it easier to raise the share of renewables in Japan's total energy sources, according to ministry officials.
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China bars for-profit tutoring in core school subjects: document

China is barring tutoring for profit in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families that have contributed to low birth rates, news that sent shockwaves through its vast private education sector and share prices plunging.The policy change, which also restricts foreign investment in a sector that had become essential to success in Chinese school exams, was contained in a government document widely circulated on July 23 and verified by sources.The move threatens to decimate China's $120 billion private tutoring industry and triggered a heavy selloff in shares of tutoring firms traded in Hong Kong and New York including New Oriental Education & Technology Group and Koolearn Technology Holding.All institutions offering tutoring on the school curriculum will be registered as non-profit organizations, and no new licenses will be granted, according to the document, which says it was distributed by China's State Council, or cabinet, to local governments and is dated July 19.
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Myanmar's lights go out as bill boycott fuels cash crunch

Myanmar's electricity supplies have been threatened by collapsing revenues since the Feb. 1 military takeover, with urban areas suffering frequent power failures and prolonged blackouts amid a widespread boycott of electricity bill payments.Unreliable power supplies are adding severe pressure to the threadbare public health care system as a third wave of COVID-19 rampages. The country's confirmed cases have surged to record levels. Official figures show an average of 6,000 new cases daily for a total of 250,000 to date with 6,000 deaths recorded, mostly since mid-June. Because testing has been so limited, medical experts believe the true figures are much higher.A nationwide civil disobedience campaign against military rule has seen many refuse to pay their electricity bills. Revenues at the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) have plunged by over 90% since Feb. 1 compared to the same period last year, according to internal data seen by Nikkei Asia and a recent report by Independent Economists for Myanmar (IEM), a group of Myanmar-focused economists.
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Saudi Aramco confirms data leak after reports of cyber ransom

Saudi Aramco confirmed that some company files were leaked after hackers reportedly demanded a $50 million ransom from the world’s most-valuable oil producer.“Aramco recently became aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors,” the Middle Eastern oil major said July 21 in an email. “We confirm that the release of data was not due to a breach of our systems, has no impact on our operations, and the company continues to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture.”The Associated Press reported earlier that 1 terabyte of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. data had been held by an extortionist, citing a web page it had accessed on the darknet. The state-owned driller was offered the chance to have the data deleted for $50 million in cryptocurrency, the AP said.In 2012, Saudi Arabia blamed unidentified people based outside the kingdom for a hack against the oil giant that aimed to disrupt production from the world’s largest exporter of crude. The so-called “spear-phishing” assault destroyed more than 30,000 computers within hours.

Mozambique's gas ambitions rest on distant hope of peace

The future of Mozambique's gas ambitions hinges on its ability to end a deadly insurgency linked to Islamic State, but if peace is the answer the southern African country and French energy giant TotalEnergies may have a problem.Four months after gunmen overran Palma, a town housing TotalEnergies contractors near its Afungi site in Cabo Delgado province, the insurgents still control swathes of territory and a key port while the army is in tatters, security experts, military personnel, company officials and insiders told Reuters.The Mozambican government says Palma itself is now pacified and it is working to ensure peace in Cabo Delgado.But as recently as June, the United Nations refugee agency said people fleeing areas adjacent to the TotalEnergies site reported ongoing insecurity and gunfire.An even bigger project led by Exxon Mobil is now also on hold with minority partner Galp telling Reuters that re-establishing security was essential and that it would not move forward until TotalEnergies returns.Mozambique's gas reserves are estimated at some 100 trillion cubic feet, putting the country 11th in world rankings, and the two liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects are at the heart of the transformation plan of one of the world's poorest countries.
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Strategic

Britain to permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters

Britain said on July 20 it would permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters after its Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and escort ships sail to Japan in September through seas where China is vying for influence with the United States and Japan.Plans for the high-profile visit by the carrier strike group come as London deepens security ties with Tokyo, which has expressed growing alarm in recent months over China's territorial ambitions in the region, including Taiwan."Following on from the strike group's inaugural deployment, the United Kingdom will permanently assign two ships in the region from later this year," Britain's Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in a joint announcement in Tokyo with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi.The British embassy in Tokyo did not immediately respond when asked which ports in the region the Royal Navy ships would operate from.After their arrival in Japan, Kishi said, the Queen Elizabeth and its escort ships would split up for separate port calls to U.S. and Japanese naval bases along the Japanese archipelago.
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US military drawdown in Mideast is for real

The US is finalizing plans to shrink its global constellation of military bases and shift war-making resources to the Far East, where Washington thinks they might prove more useful to confront China.When accomplished, the so-called “pivot to Asia” first broached under the Obama administration will become a reality, and partly at the expense of the decades-old preoccupation with the Middle East – especially the Persian Gulf.The Afghanistan pullout of a remaining 3,500 or so troops, which made headlines for having ended the long American defense commitment there, is but a minor step in the process. President Joe Biden has called for more broadly “correctly sizing” global military operations.Indicative of Washington’s intentions was the recent withdrawal of a total of eight Patriot anti-missile systems from Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, along with the removal of an anti-rocket system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense from the kingdom.More changes are to come. In February, Biden ordered the Pentagon to review the US “military footprint” across the globe.The initial downsizing focus appears to be on the Middle East. That’s due in part to American failures to stabilize the region despite pouring in soldiers, materiel, bombs and money.
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Ukraine wins and loses in Nord Stream 2 power play

The United States and Russia seem to have reached a wider geopolitical deal on Ukraine, one with the future direction of energy flows at its heart.The two powers used the Eastern European country as a bargaining chip in their disputes over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is reportedly 98% complete and will provide Russian natural gas to Germany and the rest of Europe.Although Nord Stream 2 is widely seen as a Russian energy project, in reality, it is a product of an agreement between Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom and several European oil and gas corporations, namely Royal Dutch Shell, German utility company E.ON, French electric utility Engie, and Austrian integrated oil and gas company OMV.There are reports suggesting that America and Germany also reached a deal on Nord Stream 2.According to the said agreement, if Russia tries to use energy as a weapon or commit aggression against Ukraine, Germany would be the one to take punitive action to limit Russia’s energy exports.
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Russia releases footage of new S-500 air defence system in action

Russia on July 20 released what is thought to be the first footage of its advanced new S-500 surface-to-air missile system in action, a weapon it hopes will beef up its own defences and one day become an export best seller.Its predecessor, the S-400 system, has become a source of geopolitical tension with the United States actively discouraging countries to buy it, and, in the case of Turkey, unsuccessfully trying to persuade Ankara to return it.Footage released by the defence ministry showed the giant truck-based system's launch tubes firing a missile at high speed into the sky at a testing ground in southern Russia.Russia's state RIA news agency said it was the first time that the defence ministry had shown the S-500 system undergoing a live fire test.Parts of the footage had been deliberately blurred or obscured to make it harder to examine the system in detail."The S-500 anti-aircraft missile system has no analogues in the world and is designed to defeat the entire spectrum of existing and promising aerospace attack weapons of a potential enemy in the entire range of altitudes and speeds," the ministry said in a statement.
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Beijing demands withdrawal of sanctions in meeting with US, blaming Washington for ‘stalemate’ and creating an ‘imaginary enemy’

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded the US remove sanctions on officials, students, and communist party members, as Beijing accused Washington of creating an “imaginary enemy” out of China.Speaking on July 26, during a high-level meeting between Beijing and Washington, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said relations between the two countries were at a “standstill” and that “serious difficulties” remain, according to Chinese media. “The United States wants to reignite the sense of national purpose by establishing China as an ‘imaginary enemy,’” Xie was also quoted as saying during a confrontational meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.According to a statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website, Xie is said to have told his US counterpart that Washington is the “inventor of coercive diplomacy,” and described its own countermeasures “legitimate and reasonable.”Xie reportedly asked Sherman to remove sanctions levied by the US on Chinese officials and communist party members, as well as loosening visa restrictions on Chinese students.
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Russia-China bromance is going strong, but it's far from perfect

The shared identification of Russia-China relations as being more than an alliance has two aims: first, to show an unprecedented level of comprehensive coordination; second, to champion the cause of multipolarity and reject a Cold War mentality. It is a clear reproach to the US with its attempt to renew traditional alliances.However, this Moscow-Beijing tandem has its limitations. Russian and Chinese officials prioritize data security as an important part of their cooperation. It was mentioned at the Wang-Lavrov meeting in Tashkent and enshrined in the Putin-Xi joint statement.Despite their growing friendship, Moscow toes a cautious line on its key technological infrastructure to avoid an overreliance on Western or Chinese equipment. Russian authorities are seeking to make all cellular operators embrace only Russian-produced LTE equipment as a condition for relicensing in 2021, which excludes Western and Chinese producers.Another potential point of tension is the warming relations between China and Ukraine. The two governments this month announced an expanded agreement on infrastructure projects, days after Ukraine withdrew its support for a joint statement calling for an independent UN investigation into human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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US vows to continue airstrikes in Afghanistan, as general insists ‘Taliban victory is not inevitable’

The head of the US Central Command has promised that despite the withdrawal, the US military will continue supporting the Afghan government with airstrikes against the advancing Taliban militants, at least “in the coming weeks.”“The Taliban are attempting to create a sense of inevitability about their campaign. They are wrong,” General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of the US Central Command, told reporters in Kabul over the weekend.Since the US began its withdrawal in May, the advance by the Taliban has intensified, with militants now claiming to have gained control of more than 80% of Afghanistan. In response, the US military has supported the government’s efforts against the Taliban through air strikes.“The United States has increased air strikes in support of Afghan forces over the last several days, and we are prepared to continue this heightened level of support in the coming weeks if the Taliban continue their attacks,” the general said.McKenzie would not say whether air raids would continue once US forces have left the region but admitted that Afghanistan will be facing a “stern test” in the coming weeks.
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Afghan Air Force hurt by inoperable aircraft - Afghan lawmakers

One-third of the Afghan Air Force's aircraft are inoperable and it has run out of U.S.-made precision-guided rockets amid a massive drop in U.S.-led airstrikes, hampering Kabul's efforts to halt Taliban advances, Afghan lawmakers said on July 23.U.S.-provided airpower was intended to give Kabul a major advantage over the insurgents with the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops. But Kabul's loss of aircraft and depletion of precision-guided rockets, as well as Taliban assassinations of pilots, are eroding that edge, the lawmakers said."We need more support for the AF (Afghan Air Force)," Haji Ajmal Rahmani, the Afghan parliament majority whip and son of the lower house speaker, told a webinar sponsored by the State Department Correspondents Association.One-third of the fleet of about 160 aircraft is inoperable because of a spare parts shortage or the departure of Pentagon maintenance contractors, he said.Mir Haidar Afzali, the parliamentary defense committee chairman, said the Taliban have shot down some Russian-made helicopters.Other aircraft, he said, have reached their lifespan limits, and the Taliban have assassinated more than 10 Afghan pilots.
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Erdogan calls for U.S. funding to back Kabul airport mission

President Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States on July 20 to meet "conditions" including financial, logistical and diplomatic support, so that Turkey can run and guard Kabul airport after other foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.Turkey has offered to deploy troops to the airport after NATO fully withdraws and has been in talks with the United States for several weeks.The Taliban, who have gained territory as U.S.-led foreign forces pull out, have warned Turkey against it.Erdogan, speaking in northern Cyprus, acknowledged that the Taliban had reservations but said Turkey would nonetheless carry out the mission as long as the United States, a NATO partner, meets three specific Turkish requirements."If these conditions could be met, we are thinking of taking over the management of Kabul airport," he said, listing diplomatic backing for Turkey as well as the U.S. handover of facilities and logistics in Afghanistan."There will be serious financial and administrative difficulties ... (the United States) will give the necessary support to Turkey in this respect as well," Erdogan added, after attending morning prayers during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.Turkey hopes the airport mission will help soothe U.S. ties that are strained on several fronts including its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defences.
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Clashes in Tunisia after president ousts PM amid COVID-19 protests

Street clashes erupted on July 26 outside Tunisia's army-barricaded parliament, a day after President Kais Saied ousted the prime minister and suspended the legislature, plunging the young democracy into a constitutional crisis.Saied sacked Prime Minister HichemMechichi and ordered parliament closed for 30 days, a move the biggest political party Ennahdha decried as a "coup", following a day of angry street protests against the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.Saied's dramatic move - a decade on from Tunisia's 2011 revolution, often held up as the Arab Spring's sole success story - comes even though the constitution enshrines a parliamentary democracy.It "is a coup d'etat against the revolution and against the constitution," Ennahdha, the lead party in Tunisia's fractious ruling coalition, charged in a Facebook post, warning that its members "will defend the revolution".The crisis follows months of deadlock between the president, the premier and Ennahdha chief Rached Ghannouchi, which has crippled the COVID-19 response as deaths have surged to one of the world's highest per capita rates.
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With eye on China, Pentagon chief heads to Southeast Asia

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will become the first member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet to visit Southeast Asia this week, seeking to emphasise the importance Washington places on fortifying ties in the region while pushing back against China.The United States has put countering China at the heart of its national security policy for years and the Biden administration has called rivalry with Beijing "the biggest geopolitical test" of this century.Six months into his presidency, however, Southeast Asian countries are still looking for details of Biden's strategy as well as his specific plans for economic, trade and military engagement with the Indo-Pacific."You'll hear me talk a lot about partnerships and the value of partnerships," Austin told reporters en route to Alaska."My goal is to strengthen relationships," he said.In a keynote speech in Singapore on July 27 and meetings in Vietnam and the Philippines, Austin will call out aggressive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea and stress the importance of keeping the wider region free and open.
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China's Xi Jinping visits Tibet for first time as president

China's President Xi Jinping visited the Tibet Autonomous Region on July 21-22, according to the official Xinhua news agency, in his first recorded visit as leader of the nation.Xi flew into the city of Nyingchi on July 21 and took a train to Tibetan capital Lhasa the following day along a section of the high-elevation railway being built to link the mountainous border region with Sichuan province.In Lhasa, Xi visited a monastery and the Potala Palace Square, and "inspected ethnic religion" and Tibetan cultural heritage protection, according to Xinhua. The palace is the traditional home of Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is in exile and has been branded a dangerous separatist by Beijing.In Nyingchi, he also inspected rural rejuvenation and environmental protection.Photos released by Xinhua show Xi was accompanied by Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission and a senior general in the People's Liberation Army.Xi was last in Tibet in 2011, when he was vice president.
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Hate crime bill widens Islamic divisions in the Maldives

Two years after a landslide victory in the general elections, the governing Maldivian Democratic Party has been rattled by sharp divisions within its ranks as lawmakers split into factions in an emerging battle for the soul of Islam in the South Asian archipelago.In one faction is Hisaan Hussein, a female MDP lawmaker who submitted a bill in May to criminalize a wave of hate speech in the largely moderate Muslim country. In the bill's sights are ultraconservative Islamists who publicly berate their adversaries as la dheenee, which means "irreligious" in the local Dhivehi language, or as kafirs, nonbelievers.But in the weeks since, Hussein and other members of the MDP's progressive wing have faced a backlash from ultrareligious quarters as the bill made its way through the parliamentary process. It has forced her -- an ally of charismatic parliamentary Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed, the victim of an assassination attempt in May, allegedly by Islamic extremists -- to seek a security detail for protection.
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China pressures Pakistan after losing 9 engineers in bus attack

Following a terror attack that killed nine Chinese engineers in northern Pakistan last week, Beijing has ramped up pressure on Islamabad, postponing a high-level joint committee for the Belt and Road Initiative and halting a billion-dollar hydropower project.The Dasu Hydropower project currently under construction in northwest Pakistan is led by China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) at an estimated cost of over $4 billion. It is slated to have a capacity of 4,320 MW.Contrary to media reporting, the project is not part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but instead is financed by the World Bank.After 13 people were killed in a bus explosion in the Kohistan district on July 14, including nine Chinese nationals working on the dam, Pakistan's foreign office called it an accident caused by a mechanical failure. This triggered a strong response from Beijing, demanding that Islamabad probe the blast.A 15-member Chinese team is in Pakistan to investigate the incident. So far no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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‘When the blood starts’: Spike in Ahmadi persecution in Pakistan

The last year has seen a spike in violent attacks against Ahmadis, and a tenfold increase in blasphemy cases lodged against them.Community members and rights groups say the spike has been fuelled by the rise of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious group, and the efforts of a single religious scholar in the eastern city of Lahore, Hassan Muawiya.“Religious freedom has been imperilled in Pakistan for years, but the rise of the TLP sends a clear signal to minority communities that they remain vulnerable to discrimination, harassment or even violence,” says Dinushika Dissanayake, deputy South Asia director at Amnesty International.“There has been an increase in these [attacks], in [legal] cases,” says Amir Mahmood, spokesman for the Ahmadi community. “This [persecution] has increased in the last two or three years, and it is continuing to do so.”In 2020, at least five Ahmadis were killed in targeted attacks by gunmen across Pakistan, while at least seven others were wounded in unsuccessful attacks, according to community data.Since 2017, at least 13 Ahmadis have been killed, and more than 40 wounded, according to the data.
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Violence escalates in water-shortage protests in Iran’s Khuzestan

Despite the internet restrictions, numerous videos have come out of several counties in Khuzestan in the past week, in many of which shots can be heard and tear gas is seen being used.Oil-rich Khuzestan, parts of which were temporarily seized by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein after he invaded Iran with backing from the West, has faced water problems for decades.This year, however, has been especially difficult for the province – and the whole country by extension – due to extremely hot temperatures and droughts that have led to widespread blackouts and water shortages.Officials acknowledge that the province has been hit hard, but they claim separatist groups are to blame for the violence and accuse foreign media of trying to take advantage of the situation to oppose the theocratic establishment.The province also saw some of the largest crowds during the 2019 nationwide protests that formed over the abrupt tripling of petrol prices. Human rights organisations say hundreds were killed during those protests as internet access was almost completely cut off across the country for nearly a week.
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Israel granted official observer status at the African Union

Making the move official, Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia, Burundi and Chad AleliAdmasu on July 22 presented his credentials to Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, at the bloc’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.“This is a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that noted that Israel currently has relations with 46 African countries.Israel previously held observer status at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) but was long thwarted in its attempts to get it back after the OAU was disbanded in 2002 and replaced by the AU.“This corrects the anomaly that has existed for almost two decades and is an important part of strengthening the fabric of Israel’s foreign relations,” said the foreign ministry’s statement.The formal establishment of Israel’s observer status with the AU will enable stronger cooperation between the two parties on various aspects, including the fight against the coronavirus and the prevention “of the spread of extremist terrorism” on the African continent, it added.
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Medical

Africa demands local production of COVID vaccines

Global pharmaceutical firms should license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy said on July 22.AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa was speaking a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a "fill and finish" deal with South Africa's Biovac Institute under which it will carry out the final stages of vaccine manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials.Pfizer and BioNTech will handle drug substance production at their facilities in Europe. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has called the arrangement "restrictive" and said much more is needed to support vaccine independence in Africa."We want to make clear to all suppliers ... if you want a long-term future with us now, you produce from Africa," Masiyiwa said.Africa, which is battling a third wave of infections, has administered just 60 million vaccine doses in a population of 1.3 billion due to restrictions on shipments from vaccine producing nations like India.Many African nations rely on global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX or donations from countries like China and India.
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UK to launch daily COVID tests in food sector to tackle 'pingdemic'

Daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain's food sector so staff who have been 'pinged' by the COVID-19 app can keep working if they test negative rather than isolating, the government said on July 22.Some supermarkets are facing shortages of specific products - mainly those in demand in hot weather - and some petrol stations have had to close after the health app told workers to isolate following contact with someone with the virus.British newspapers carried front-page pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets, declaring a "pingdemic".With cases rising to nearly 50,000 a day in the United Kingdom, hundreds of thousands of people have been advised - or "pinged" - by the National Health Service's contact-tracing app to isolate for 10 days.The government said priority testing sites would be set up at the largest supermarket distribution centres this week, and up to 500 sites would start next week.
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Indonesia's easing of COVID-19 curbs seen driven by economics

As the country grapples with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Asia, President Joko Widodo announced on July 25 that while overall curbs in place since July would be extended for a week, some measures would be eased.Businesses, including salons, garages, traditional markets and restaurants with outdoor areas will now be allowed to conditionally reopen, while malls will be permitted to operate at 25 per cent capacity outside of designated higher risk "red zones"."The decision doesn't seem to be related to the pandemic, but to economics," said Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, urging people to maintain health protocols.Hospitals have been filled with patients in the past month, particularly on the densely populated island of Java and in Bali, but the president on July 25 said infections and hospital occupancy had declined, without specifying by how much.The move to ease some curbs comes as the government has faced pressure from business groups to act to avoid mass layoffs, and with several relatively small-scale street demonstrations last week.
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