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Every weekend, Asia Pacific Daily will provide you with a run-down of the latest hot news.
This week, the following hot news you should know:
Top 1 | World failing to meet commitments to limit environmental damage: UNEP
The world is failing to meet its commitments to limit environmental damage, and needs drastic changes, warned a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report on Thursday.
The "Making peace with nature" report laid out the three intertwined environment crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – and also a blueprint of how governments, businesses, financial institutions and society must change.
Globally, temperatures are set to rise at least 3 degrees Celsius more compared to pre-industrial levels this century, which is below the 2 degrees set out in the 2016 Paris Climate agreement, said the report.
Top 2 | Malaysia to deport Myanmar asylum-seekers next week, refugee groups say
Nearly 100 asylum-seekers are among the 1,200 Myanmar nationals Malaysia plans to send home by ship next week, refugee groups said on Thursday, as it takes a step activists fear could put the deportees’ lives at risk.
Although Malaysia does not formally recognise refugees, detaining them along with other undocumented migrants, it has vowed not to deport Rohingya Muslims and refugees identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Last week, Reuters reported the Southeast Asian nation had agreed to return the 1,200 Myanmar citizens after its neighbour’s military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, offered to send navy ships to pick up those detained.
Top 3 | US life expectancy drops a year in pandemic, most since WWII
Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths, health officials are reporting.
Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black Americans losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years, according to preliminary estimates Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is a huge decline,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees the numbers for the CDC. “You have to go back to World War II, the 1940s, to find a decline like this.”
Top 4 | China overtakes U.S. as the EU's largest trading partner
China has surpassed the U.S. as the European Union's largest trading partner after the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit caused trade with the bloc's other main partners to decrease.
Over the past year, EU exports to China increased by 2.2 percent, while imports rose by 5.6 percent. Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, also said the value of trade between the EU and China reached $711 billion in 2020, while trade with the U.S. reached $673 billion.
The increase in trade with China is largely due to how the country's economy bounced back from the start of the pandemic. Between December 2019 and 2020, industrial output in China rose by 7.3 percent.
Top 5 | In shock move, Facebook blocks news access in Australia
In a shocking act of retaliation Thursday, Facebook blocked Australians from sharing news, a milestone in the increasingly frantic jockeying between governments, media and powerful tech companies that one Australian minister called “an assault on a sovereign nation” and abuse of power.
Australia’s government condemned the decision, which also prevented some government communications, including messages about emergency services, as well as some commercial pages. The digital platforms fear that what’s happening in Australia will become an expensive precedent that larger countries will follow.
Facebook took the drastic action because the House of Representatives passed legislation that would make Facebook and Google pay for Australian journalism, said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who added that he was given no warning before Facebook acted. The legislation needs to be passed by the Senate before it becomes law.
Top 6 | Covid infections in England fall by two-thirds but spreading fastest among young
Covid infections have fallen by two-thirds in a month in England but the virus is now spreading most among primary-age children and young people, research suggests.
The React 1 study from Imperial College London points to the third national lockdown having significantly curbed the spread of the coronavirus despite the emergence of new variants.
Prevalence remains high however, with about one in 200 people infected with Covid between 4 and 13 February, compared with about three times that number between 6 and 21 January, the interim findings showed.
Top 7 | Migrants on the move again in Mexico and Central America
In the first Mexican shelter reached by migrants after trekking through the Guatemalan jungle, some 150 migrants are sleeping in its dormitories and another 150 lie on thin mattresses spread across the floor of its chapel.
Only six weeks into the year, the shelter known as “The 72” has hosted nearly 1,500 migrants, compared to 3,000 all of last year. It has halved its dormitory space due to the pandemic. That wasn’t a problem last year because few migrants arrived, but this year it’s been overwhelmed.
“We have a tremendous flow and there isn’t capacity,” said Gabriel Romero, the priest who runs the shelter in Tenosique, a town in southern Tabasco state. “The situation could get out of control. We need a dialogue with all of the authorities before this becomes chaos.” In particular, he would like the government to assist with migrants who camp outside while they are full.
Top 8 | Bitcoin vaults above $50,000 for first time ever
Bitcoin rose above $50,000 on Tuesday to a new record high, building on a rally fuelled by signs that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is gaining acceptance amongst mainstream investors.
Bitcoin hit a new high of $50,602, and was last up 5% at $50,300. It has risen around 72% so far this year, with most of the gains coming after electric carmaker Tesla said it had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin.
It also said it would accept the currency as payment.
Top 9 | Hungary receives first shipment of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine
Hungary received its first batch of 550,000 doses of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, making it the first EU country to use Chinese-made jabs.
Officials from the Hungarian government and Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Qi Dayu welcomed the vaccine's arrival at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport around 10 a.m.
Hungary approved Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine on January 29, making it the first country from the European Union to greenlight the Chinese vaccine.
Top 10 | Iran warns to halt nuclear commitments if parties fail to comply
Iran will halt its voluntary implementation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) additional protocol if other parties to the pact fail to fulfill their obligations under the document by February 21, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.
Khatibzadeh further stressed that Iran will continue to be a member of the the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and NPT safeguards.
Iran's decision is reversible if other parties adhere to their obligations, the spokesman said.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
