Dozens of women from the Pacific island victims of brazen trafficking ring that operated for years
Rolson Price still scans Facebook for her picture. He’s seen her occasionally, at the periphery of someone else’s photo, instantly recognisable.
But he’s never met her, and concedes he never will.
Continue reading...Record number of coronavirus cases reported sparking fears hospitals will be overwhelmed
Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has declared a state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area after a record number of coronavirus cases were reported in the capital and across the country.
Suga had come under pressure from his own health experts to take action, as the country battles a third wave of infections far more serious than those seen earlier in the pandemic.
Continue reading...Average price hits $788,967, an increase of 2.6% – amid 6.1% growth in 2020’s final quarter
New Zealand’s housing bubble shows no sign of bursting, with record prices recorded for the second month in a row.
The property research firm CoreLogic’s house price index shows that the average house price hit $788,967 in December, reflecting an increase of 2.6%. Growth for the final quarter of 2020 was 6.1% – the highest recorded since the 6.6% in the three months to February 2004.
Continue reading...Mass arrests raise question of what, if anything, dissenting politicians are actually allowed to do
Wednesday’s sweeping arrests of more than 50 pro-democracy activists, pollsters, politicians and fundraisers in Hong Kong seemed to all but criminalise opposition politics in the city.
Those arrested face charges of subversion for their role in unofficial primary elections held last summer that aimed to maximise the pro-democracy bloc’s performance in elections to the city’s legislative council.
Continue reading...UN body says scientists were due to be deployed to country on Tuesday, but China says negotiations ongoing
China has attempted to downplay concerns over its refusal to authorise a fact-finding mission to the country by the World Health Organization to study the origins of Covid-19, saying it is still negotiating access with the UN body.
A day after the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “very disappointed” that China had not authorised the entry of the 10-strong research team, led by Dr Peter Ben Embarek, China insisted there had been a “misunderstanding” between the two sides about agreed dates for the visit, adding that discussions were ongoing.
Continue reading...Campaigners and politicians held in wave of arrests under the national security law
More than 50 people, including pro-democracy politicians and campaigners, have been arrested in early-morning raids across Hong Kong in a crackdown by authorities that was condemned as a “despicable” assault on freedom.
In a police operation involving more than 1,000 officers, the 53 individuals were detained under the territory’s controversial national security law (NSL), accused of “subverting state power” by holding primaries for pro-democracy candidates for the Hong Kong election.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Marise Payne issues mild statement, but opposition parties attack China’s ‘unacceptable’ actions and ‘paranoia’
The Australian government has called on China to allow a visit by World Health Organization experts investigating how the coronavirus pandemic started, insisting the country should grant them visas “without delay”.
Canberra raised its concerns on Wednesday over reports that Chinese authorities had blocked the arrival of a WHO team investigating the early cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan.
Continue reading...Ruler begins second Workers’ party congress by admitting strategy fell short in ‘almost all areas’
North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un, has admitted that his economic policies have largely failed, and vowed to avoid a repeat of the “painful lessons” of the past at a rare meeting of the country’s ruling party.
Kim told the congress of the Workers’ party that his five-year economic plan had failed to achieve its goals “in almost all areas to a great extent”, North Korean state media said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...A handful of countries – most of them islands, most of them remote – remain coronavirus-free, but life has not remained wholly unchanged
For all of its virulence, for all the breathtaking speed with which it spread seemingly everywhere around the globe, there are places still where Covid-19 has not reached, and might never.
Places without face masks or elbow-bumps, without QR codes or capacity limits, without lockdowns or social distancing. There are a handful of countries across the globe – many of them islands, most of them remote – that have managed to escape the pandemic. But while the virus hasn’t hit, the global shockwaves it has sent rippling around the world certainly have.
Continue reading...Moderna is second vaccine to get EU approval; Japan under pressure to impose state of emergency for Tokyo
Ukrainian police and health officials are investigating reports that some citizens have been illegally getting inoculated against Covid-19 with vaccines that have not been officially approved, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Ukraine, which has registered more than one million Covid-19 infections and 19,357 deaths so far, has yet to approve any of the newly developed vaccines, though it signed a contract in December to buy 1.9m doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine and the shots are expected to be delivered soon.
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Moderna is expected to also be effective against the new variant of coronavirus detected in Britain, the Dutch national drugs authority CBG said.
The CBG said the European Commission was expected to give the final stamp of approval to the Moderna jab on Wednesday, after the European Medicines Authority gave its approval earlier.
Continue reading...Alibaba co-founder has fallen out of favour with Beijing, but observers cautious about drawing conclusions
Speculation is mounting over the whereabouts of the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who has not been seen or heard in public for more than two months.
Ma, the co-founder and former chairman of the technology firm Alibaba, has fallen out of favour with China’s leadership. In late October, he stood alongside senior officials and delivered a blunt speech criticising national regulators, reportedly infuriating China’s president, Xi Jinping.
Continue reading...Authorities threaten to revoke licences of pair who assisted group of 12 that tried to flee to Taiwan
Chinese authorities have threatened to end the careers of two lawyers who assisted 12 activists who tried to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan last August, 10 of whom were given jail terms by a Chinese court last week.
Ren Quanniu – who also represented the Wuhan citizen journalist Zhang Zhan – and Lu Siwei received notices from local departments of justice on Monday that authorities intended to revoke their licences and they had three days to arrange for a defence hearing.
Continue reading...Destroyer moves into region one day after Revolutionary Guards seize a South Korean tanker
South Korean forces have arrived in waters near the strait of Hormuz as pressure builds on Iran to free a South Korean tanker it seized along with its crew on Monday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had taken control of the South Korean vessel, the Hankuk Chemi, and its 20 crew because it was “polluting the Persian Gulf with chemicals”. The tanker is being held at Iran’s Bandar Abbas port city.
Continue reading...First two cases of new variant recorded in São Paulo; meeting to discuss Moderna vaccine ends without decision
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet been able to reach a decision on the approval of Moderna’s vaccine, the Dutch national medicines authority has said.
Its human medicines committee (CHMP) had called an unscheduled meeting Monday afternoon to discuss Moderna’s vaccine, two days ahead of its originally planned meeting on Wednesday.
This is how it goes, of course we had hoped for more, but we knew it could be impossible to answer all questions in detail in one meeting. I hope there will be a decision on Wednesday. But I don’t know.
Brazil has confirmed its first two cases of the new coronavirus variant that has also been seen in the UK, São Paulo state’s health secretariat has said.
One of the people infected was a 25-year-old woman from the city of São Paulo in contact with travellers who had been to Britain, according to the state government. The other patient was another São Paulo resident, a 34-year-old man who had contact with her.
Continue reading...Tu Ching Liang’s videos of warbling passengers have been viewed millions of times
Tu Ching Liang adjusts his yellow novelty hat, as disco lights bounce off the medical mask across his face, and speeds up his taxi.
“No one is as lucky as me, walking out the door every day rushing to go to work and not make any money,” he says, laughing.
Continue reading...Tourist drawcards Kuta and Legian beaches are being overwhelmed by up to 60 tonnes of plastic rubbish every day
Bali’s beaches have been covered in tonnes of ugly rubbish as a result of the monsoon and chronic failings in Indonesia’s waste management system.
Authorities say that between 30 and 60 tonnes of trash is being collected from the island’s most famous beaches each day.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s departure will alter the face of geopolitics. The climate crisis and Covid response will affect all nations – while others face very particular challenges. Observer correspondents examine the 12 months ahead
A potent mix of hope and fear accompanies the start of 2021 in most of the world. Scientists have created several vaccines for a disease that didn’t even have a name this time last year. But many countries, including the UK and the US, are still stumbling through the deadliest period of the pandemic.
The shadow of Covid will not begin to lift, even in richer countries, for months. Britain was the first to approve a vaccine and has secured extensive supplies, yet Boris Johnson’s suggestion that life might be returning to normal by Easter is widely seen as optimistic. Other countries, particularly in the south, face a long wait to get vaccines, and help paying for them. The rebuilding of economies shattered by Covid everywhere will be slow; even countries that managed to contain it have taken a hit, from Vietnam to New Zealand.
Continue reading...Visitors from UK and North America tell of finding themselves with a pass to one of the best-rated pandemic responses in the world
For Christmas 2019 Efrain Vega de Varona gave his partner plane tickets to New Zealand – her dream holiday destination. It has proved a gift that keeps on giving.
A year later they are still in New Zealand, having decided to stay put at the end of their two-week holiday in mid-March rather than return to Los Angeles. “We’ve been living out of two suitcases for 10 months,” says Vega de Varona from their latest Airbnb rental (number 50-something this year) in Island Bay, Wellington.
Continue reading...Find is chance for species’ survival say scientists as DNA results confirm turtle found in Hanoi district is a Swinhoe’s softshell
The last known male giant Swinhoe’s softshell turtle is no longer alone on the planet after the discovery of a female of his species in Vietnam.
The female 86kg (13 stone) turtle was found in Dong Mo lake, in Hanoi’s Son Tay district, and captured for genetic testing in October.
Continue reading...Criminal networks are depending on the chaos of Covid and Brexit. Now more than ever we need focus and international cooperation to prevent further tragedies
Trials in the UK of the drivers and haulage organisers involved in the Essex lorry tragedy in which 39 Vietnamese migrants perished ended in guilty pleas and convictions. Vietnam also convicted the agents who brokered the victims’ journeys to the UK and sentenced them to terms of imprisonment.
While these are positive developments in achieving some measure of justice for the victims, they won’t do anything to stem the smuggling and trafficking of Vietnamese migrants to the UK. No justice system has reached the actual masterminds and profiteers behind this horrific crime: the organised crime groups.
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