EDITORIAL | Int’l Community Must Do Everything to Restore Civilian Rule in Myanmar

The United Nations Security Council, where China and Russia hold permanent seats, should be shamed for failing even to reference the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release.

Published 8 hours ago
on February 22, 2021
By Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

In the wake of the coup d’etat carried out by the armed forces in Myanmar, the de facto leader of the government, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest.

In response, demonstrations against the military’s actions are staged daily in various parts of the country. Even Buddhist monks have joined the protests. In a country where 90% of the population are devout Buddhists, their influence on public opinion should not be underestimated. Moreover, doctors, bank employees, public servants, and other professionals have reportedly abandoned their workplaces as the civil disobedience movement gathers steam. 

The majority of Myanmar’s people clearly do not support the coup. Myanmar’s military must release Suu Kyi and other detainees and return power to a democratic order.

The military junta says that Suu Kyi is under suspicion of having illegally imported and used walkie-talkies. She is now reportedly facing additional charges which would allow her to be detained indefinitely.

The junta has taken great pains to say that the arrests are legally justified. But they are only fooling themselves if they think the people of Myanmar and the international community will accept this preposterous claim. Little wonder British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scoffed at the new charges against Suu Kyi as “fabricated.”

A military spokesman has criticized the protest movement as a trigger for violence. Armored military vehicles have appeared on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. In the past there had been tragic cases of military forces firing indiscriminately on demonstrators. The military must not again resort to violence to maintain power. 

Anti-coup protesters face a row of riot police in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. The daily protests campaigning for civil disobedience in Myanmar are increasingly focusing on businesses and government institutions that sustain the economy. (AP Photo)

The military ruled Myanmar for half a century following the 1960s. No doubt the junta is convinced that it can once again rely on brute force to suppress the demonstrations.

However, the citizens who have now taken to the streets to protest have experienced close to a decade of civilian government. And it was the shift to civilian government that led to the lifting of sanctions on Myanmar by Western nations and the subsequent opening up of the country. Hopefully, the military will reconsider and take these facts into account.

Keeping the detainees locked up for a prolonged period is totally unacceptable. The international community must do everything it can to curb the Myanmar military’s use of force, while working for the restoration of a democratic political order in that country.

It is incredible that China and Russia refuse to label the events transpiring in Myanmar as a coup d’etat. Likewise, the Myanmar military itself adamantly claims that it is “not a coup.”

With China and Russia holding permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council, that body has limited its response to press reports to statements that do not use the terms “coup d’etat” or “criticism.” Nor does it incorporate the resolution calling for Suu Kyi’s release issued by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Myanmar shares a border with China and is important geopolitically as an outlet to the Indian Ocean. It must be aware of the constant pressure coming from Chinese expansionism. In recent years, Myanmar has tried to distance itself somewhat from its giant northern neighbor, no doubt due to concerns about becoming overly dependent on China.

If even so the junta is now looking to China for support, that would amount to an unforgivable betrayal of the people of Myanmar.

RELATED:
Japan Speaks Out Loud and Clear for Democracy in Myanmar
EDITORIAL | Democratization the Key to Stopping Chinese Advances in Myanmar

Japan Draws Sharp Contrast with China and the West in Myanmar Diplomacy

(Read the Sankei editorial in Japanese at this link.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

David Attenborough narrated video of Boris 'THE MONSTER' Johnson cleaning a chair goes viral

"You might think this is some kind of circus trick for which he has been specially trained, but not so."

 by Jack Peat

 February 21, 2021

in News

A David Attenborough narrated video of Boris Johnson disinfecting

 a chair has gone viral on social media.

The clip shows the PM getting stuck in with cleaning work at a mass vaccination centre,

but his technique raised some eyebrows among viewers.

British collage artist and satirist Cold War Steve depicted Mr Johnson in a zoo with 

Attenborough giving bemused visitors a guide.

But a video of the revered broadcaster narrating the episode is the one that really took social media by storm.

In the clip Attenborough, says:

“You might think this is some kind of circus trick for which he has been specially trained, but not so.

“He is doing this entirely on initiative he’s seen others doing it and he’s copying.

Watch it in full below:

 

Study shows real-world effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines

By Sally Robertson, B.Sc.Feb 21 2021

Researchers in the United States have conducted a study demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of the recently approved Moderna and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines at protecting against infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The team – from Nference in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota –says the findings are on par with the results reported in large phase 3 randomized clinical trials.

The results showed that the vaccines are effective at both preventing infection and reducing the severity of COVID-19.

Venky Soundararajan and colleagues also demonstrate that vaccination effectively protects individuals at the highest risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and experiencing severe disease.

“Building upon the previous randomized trials of these vaccines, this study demonstrates their real-world effectiveness in reducing the rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity among individuals at the highest risk for infection,” write the researchers.

A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.

Study: FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are effective per real-world evidence synthesized across a multi-state health system. Image Credit: NIAID

The two vaccines are being rolled out across the United States

In 2020, large phase 3 clinical trials demonstrated that the Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine is 95% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and that the Moderna mRNA1273 vaccine is 94.1% effective.

Both of these vaccines are now being rolled-out across the Unites States, with priority given to those at high risk of infection or severe disease.

However, “while these groups were not excluded from the phase 3 trials, vaccine efficacy has not been specifically demonstrated among them,” says Soundararajan and colleagues.

“It is thus critical to analyze outcomes of vaccinated patients to date to determine whether these vaccines are indeed effective in especially high-risk individuals.”

Schematic illustrating the algorithms for participant selection and outcome assessment. (A) Design of study to compare SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in patients receiving COVID-19 vaccination compared to 1-to-1 propensity-matched unvaccinated patients (n = 31,069 per group). For each group, incidence rates were calculated to assess the efficacy of vaccination in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection, as defined by a positive PCR test, with onset at least 36 days after the first dose or the date of study enrollment. Several other time windows were also evaluated for vaccine efficacy. (B) Design of study to compare COVID-19 disease severity in patients who were vaccinated prior to diagnosis with COVID-19 and had at least 14 days of follow-up after diagnosis (n = 191) versus 1-to-10 propensity-matched unvaccinated patients with at least 14 days of follow-up (n = 2,348). Severity outcomes (hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality) were assessed within 14 days of PCR diagnosis.

What did the current study involve?

Now, the team has conducted a preliminary assessment of real-world vaccination outcomes in 62,138 individuals within the Mayo Clinic health system (including Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin) between 1st December 2020 and 8th February 2021.

The researchers assessed SARS-CoV-2 positivity and COVID-19 severity among 31,069 individuals who received at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 or the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine.

“One challenge inherent to such real-world analyses is the lack of a built-in placebo arm, which is essential to establish the expected infection rate during the study period and thereby to assess vaccine efficacy,” writes Soundararajan and colleagues.

To address this shortcoming, the researchers used 1-to-1 propensity score matching to generate a cohort of 31,069 individuals who did not receive a vaccine by the end of the study period.

Distribution of the time from first vaccine dose to first positive PCR test, for the patients with at least one positive PCR test following vaccination. Patient counts for mRNA-1273 (Moderna vaccine) are shown in black, and patient counts for BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine) are shown in purple. For mRNA-1273, the mean time to positive PCR test following the first dose is 10.9 days (standard deviation: 6.9 days), and for BNT162b2, the mean time to positive PCR test following the first dose is 12.1 days (standard deviation: 9.1 days). Dotted lines indicate the recommended time for the second vaccine dose for mRNA-1273 (28 days) and BNT162b2 (21 days).

Vaccine efficacy reached 88.7%

Related Stories

• Researchers report a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern in Uganda
• Ivermectin may not be the ‘silver bullet’ antiviral against COVID-19
• Artemisia plant extracts show potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro

Starting 36 days following study enrollment, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 positivity among individuals who received two vaccines was 0.048 cases per 1000 person-days, compared with 0.43 cases per 1,000 days among unvaccinated individuals.

This corresponds to a vaccine efficacy of 88.7%, which the team says is in line with the previously reported efficacies.

Even in the first seven days following enrollment, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 positivity was significantly lower among vaccinated individuals than among unvaccinated individuals (0.48 versus 1.0 case per 1,000 days), corresponding to an efficacy of 53.6%.

Efficacy then increased over subsequent weeks and reached its maximum during the sixth week after study enrollment.

How did disease severity compare between the two groups?

Among the vaccinated individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the 14-day hospitalization rate was significantly lower than among the unvaccinated individuals who tested positive, at 3.7% versus 9.2%.

On the other hand, ICU admission rates were similar between the two cohorts, at 1.0% versus 1.3%, as were 14-day mortality rates, at 0.0% versus 0.085%.

However, the team says it is worth noting that none of the vaccinated patients who developed COVID-19 have died, including 59 individuals who were followed up for at least 28 days.

“A strong real-world effect” of vaccination

“Our data demonstrate a strong real-world effect of COVID-19 vaccination on par with the results reported in each randomized trial,” writes Soundararajan and colleagues.

“We emphasize that COVID-19 vaccines should be administered as broadly and rapidly as possible to the public and that the real-world efficacy of these vaccines should be continuously monitored as we move beyond Phase 1a of the distribution process,” concludes the team.

*Important Notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.

Journal reference:

• Soundararajan V, et al. FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are effective per real-world evidence synthesized across a multi-state health system. bioRxiv, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.15.21251623, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.15.21251623v1

Former Bank of England Governor Carney joins board of digital payments company Stripe

Kanishka Singh
Sat, February 20, 2021

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England (BOE) attends a news conference at Bank Of England in London


By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - Mark Carney, former head of the UK and Canadian central banks, has joined the board of U.S. digital payments company Stripe Inc, days after the company was reported to be planning a primary funding round valuing it at over $100 billion.

"Regulated in multiple jurisdictions and partnering with several dozen financial institutions around the world, Stripe will benefit from Mark Carney's extensive experience of global financial systems and governance", the company said on Sunday, confirming a report by the Sunday Times newspaper.


Forbes magazine had reported on Wednesday that investors were valuing Stripe at a $115 billion valuation in secondary-market transactions.

A senior Stripe executive told Reuters in December that the company plans to expand across Asia, including in Southeast Asia, Japan, China and India.

The company offers products that allow merchants to accept digital payments from customers and a range of business banking services.

Stripe raised $600 million in April in an extension of a Series G round and was valued back then at $36 billion.

Consumer-facing fintechs have seen a boost to their businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people have been staying at home to avoid catching the virus and have increasingly been managing their finances online.

Carney, who headed the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, had a 13-year career at Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices.

He is the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

Bubble Warnings Go Unheeded as Everyone Is a Buyer in Stocks

Lu Wang
Sat, February 20, 2021, 2:



(Bloomberg) -- The American love affair with stocks is deepening as everyone from frenetic day-traders to staid institutions dive further into the market.

Equity funds are drawing fresh money at an unprecedented pace and hedge funds are boosting their stock exposure to a record. Companies themselves are re-emerging as big buyers, with share repurchases doubling from a year ago.

The affection underscores growing confidence in an economic recovery, buttressed by government support and vaccines. While aspects of the craze -- the growing obsession with penny stocks and options, primarily -- are the basis for daily warnings about a bubble, bulled-up positioning is proving a sturdy backbone for the rally.

Up 75% from March, the S&P 500’s gain dwarfs all previous bull markets at this stage of the cycle since the 1930s.

“It’s been truly amazing,” said Brian Culpepper, a money manager at James Investment Research. “Everyone just thinks the stock market is going to go, go, go,” he added. “Whether it’s herd mentality, or fear of being left behind, that’s what you’re seeing.”

Dated from the last bear-market bottom, the boom cycle is young -- 11 months, versus five years for the median bull market. But its velocity makes up for the age. The S&P 500’s current peak-to-trough gain already eclipses three other full bull markets. If history is any guide, this one is likely more than half done as the median return of the 13 previous bull cycles was 126%.

Indeed, a majority of money managers in a Bank of America poll this month viewed the current bull market as being in a late stage.

“I don’t think we’re at bubble levels yet, but there are certainly some red flags that would indicate folks are all-in on stocks and risk,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for the U.S. SPDR exchange-traded fund business at State Street Global Advisors. “You need that euphoric moment for the bull market to top.”

That danger has yet to register with investors. Last week, they poured $36 billion into funds focused on U.S. equities, the biggest inflow in more than two decades, according to data compiled by EPFR, a unit of Informa Financial Intelligence.

Hedge funds are trimming bearish bets while raising their bullish wagers. Their net leverage, a measure of industry risk appetite that takes into account long versus short positions, climbed to a record this month, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s prime brokerage unit.

The cost of missing out is looming large on investors’ minds with equities having added a stunning $12 trillion to values since March. Valuations rivaling the dot-com era proved no hurdle to risk appetite. Buy-the-dip is the name of the game. As a result, market pullbacks have been shallow. The S&P 500 has staged seven discernible retreats since October, including one in late January, none going further than 4% before a rally took hold.

“There have been several times over the past month when it looked as if the rug had been pulled out from the market and the ‘drop’ had begun, but each time buyers have stepped in,” Saut Strategy’s Andrew Adams wrote in a note. “This isn’t a ‘normal’ market, but as long as it continues to press higher and higher, I think we’re almost forced to own stocks.”

Bears are almost nowhere to be found, with short sales dwindling to fresh lows amid January’s retail-driven short squeeze. In fact, according to a survey by the National Association of Active Investment Managers, the most-bearish group that typically has a net-short position was 80% long in stocks earlier this month before turning neutral.

Add corporate America to the growing army of buyers. Companies -- a reliable ally of the last bull market -- were forced to retreat and preserve cash during the 2020 pandemic, but are splurging on their own shares again. Their announced buybacks have averaged $6.9 billion a day this earnings season, the most since at least 2006, according to quarterly data compiled by EPFR.

“Buybacks tend to have a very high correlation with the performance of the S&P 500, so the boom in buybacks is encouraging,” said Winston Chua, an analyst with EPFR.

Pemex Gets New Tax Benefits 

of as Much as $3.6 Billion

Amy Stillman
Sat, February 20, 2021



(Bloomberg) -- Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced new tax benefits for Pemex as the beleaguered state oil company seeks to reverse long-term production declines and reduce debt.

Petroleos Mexicanos will get an additional 14% credit stimulus to apply to the taxes it pays on hydrocarbons capped at 73.3 billion pesos ($3.6 billion) for this year, according to a presidential decree. The new benefit comes in addition to previous measures that reduced Pemex’s profit-sharing duty from 65%, to 58% in 2020 and 54% in 2021, respectively.

Pemex says that it has one of the industry’s highest tax burdens, paying about $27 billion in net taxes last year, according to a January presentation. It’s debt of $110.3 billion is the highest of any major oil company, and its crude oil output has declined every year since reaching a peak in 2004.


Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said the government will be working on Pemex debt in the coming weeks, in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday. The government will make a capital injection of as much as $1.6 billion into Pemex this year, said a person with knowledge who wasn’t authorized to talk publicly about the deliberations.

Electric Vehicle Registrations Reach New Record in US, With Tesla, GM Leading Way

Henry Khederian
Sat, February 20, 2021


Electric vehicle registrations in the US in 2020 reached a record market share of 1.8%, demonstrating increased consumer interest for electric vehicles.

What Happened: That's according to a study by IHS Markit Ltd (NYSE: IHS) released on Friday.

The report also says that December 2020 had the highest monthly share for new EV registrations, at 2.5%.

While roughly 1 in 40 registrations may seem like a drop of the bucket, it's the highest seen since IHS started tracking new vehicle registrations by fuel type.

IHS market defined an EV as an automobile powered solely by electricity. No other power source counted toward the EV registration market-share tally.

Why It Matters: Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) stands to benefit from increased registrations.

According to a report by Automotive News, Tesla took four out of the top five spots for new EV registrations in 2020. Tesla accounted for 79% of the total, with 200,561 EVs registered. That represents a 16% increase from 2019, which saw 172,438 Tesla vehicles registered.

The Model 3 and Model Y led the way, with 95,135 and 71,344 vehicles registered, respectively.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) was the only company besides Tesla to crack the top 5 for US EV registrations in 2020. Its Chevy Bolt compact had 19,664 registrations in 2020.

Rounding out the top five for 2020 was Tesla's Model X with 19,652 registrations and Model S with 14,430.

IHS Markit forecasts EV sales in 2021 will surpass 3.5% nationally.

ECB set to disappoint campaigners on climate change

Martin Arnold in Frankfurt
Sat, February 20, 2021, 

The European Central Bank is likely to adopt a less aggressive approach to tackling climate change than many campaigners want. It will rely mostly on improved financial modelling and disclosure rather than green asset purchases, according to several top policymakers. When the ECB governing council discussed climate change as part of its strategy review last week, there was broad consensus on the need for action.

BEHIND PAYWALL

World Bank, IMF to consider climate change

in debt reduction talks

IT SHOULD BE ELIMINATED NOT JUST REDUCED

Andrea Shalal
Fri, February 19, 2021, 


FILE PHOTO: IMF and World Bank hold Fall Meetings in Washington


By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank is working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on ways to factor climate change into the negotiations about reducing the debt burdens of some poor countries, World Bank President David Malpass told Reuters in a Friday interview.

Three countries - Ethiopia, Chad and Zambia - have already initiated negotiations with creditors under a new Common Framework supported by the Group of 20 major economies, a process that may lead to debt reductions in some cases.


Malpass said he expected additional countries to request restructuring of their debts, but declined to give any details.

The coronavirus pandemic has worsened the outlook for many countries that were already heavily indebted before the outbreak, with revenues down, spending up and vaccination rates lagging far behind advanced economies.

China, the United States and other G20 countries initially offered the world's poorest countries temporary payment relief on debt owed to official creditors under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). In November, the G20 also launched a new framework designed to tackle unsustainable debt stocks.

Malpass said the Bank and the IMF were studying how to twin two global problems - the need to reduce or restructure the heavy debt burden of many poorer countries, and the need to reduce fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change.

"There's a way to put together ... the need for debt reduction with the need for climate action by countries around the world, including the poorer countries," he said, adding that initial efforts could happen under the G20 common framework.

Factoring climate change into the debt restructuring process could help motivate sovereign lenders and even private creditors to write off a certain percentage of the debt of heavily-indebted poorer countries, in exchange for progress toward their sustainable development and climate goals, experts say.

The World Bank and the IMF play an important advisory and consultative role in debt restructuring negotiations since they assess the sustainability of each country's debt burden.

Many developing countries require huge outlays to shore up their food supplies and infrastructure as a result of climate change. Governments must also spend a large amount on alternative energy projects, but lack the resources to pay for those needed investments.

"There needs to be a moral recognition by the world that the activities in the advanced economies have an impact on the people in the poorer economies," Malpass said.

"The poorer countries are not really emitting very much in terms of greenhouse gases, but they're bearing the brunt of the impact from the rest of the world," he added.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva earlier this month told reporters about early-stage discussions underway about linking debt relief to climate resilience and investment in low-carbon energy sources.

Doing so, she said, could help private sector creditors achieve their sustainable development targets, she said.

"You give the country breathing space, and in exchange, you as the creditor can demonstrate that it translates into a commitment in the country that leads to a global public good," she said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Bill Gates Reveals What Caused Deadly 

Power Outages in Texas

© AP Photo / Samuel Habtab

US

08:20 GMT 21.02.2021Get short URL

by Max Gorbachev

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the Lone Star State allowing the government to allocate more funds to help millions of people affected by severe winter storms.

Bill Gates has revealed the reason behind the weather-induced crisis in Texas that resulted in power outages, leaving nearly half of the state's population under a boil advisory. In an interview with CNN, the Microsoft co-founder dismissed allegations made by Governor Gregg Abbott and other officials that solar panels and wind turbines were to blame for the massive outages in the state, noting that state's dependence on renewable energy isn't high enough.

Gates believes that the state's authorities should have spent money on weatherising energy plants. This, the software developer says, would have prevented the crisis.

"This is not because of renewable dependency. This is natural gas plants, largely, that weren't weatherised. They could've been. It costs money, and the trade-off was made, and it didn't work out, and it's tragic that it has lead to people dying", Gates told CNN.

Cataclysms, Instability, War

During the interview Bill Gates, who has donated over $50 billion to charitable causes, reiterated the need to address the global warming problem. Climate change is the root cause of all extreme weather events and the solution is green energy, Gates said. The philanthropist noted that without decisions on lowering carbon emissions and transition to renewable energy the world will face catastrophic consequences – the collapse of natural ecosystems as well as the inability to farm, which in turn will lead to war and instability.

According to the Microsoft co-founder, the deadline for the world to deal with the said issues is 2050. "2050 is literally the soonest it could get done given the scale and the number of things you have to change", Gates said.

The philanthropist believes that in an ideal world 80 percent of the energy will be renewable and come from solar panels and wind turbines, while 20 percent will come from nuclear plants. Gates even cited Texas as an example. When harsh climatic conditions make it unable to use green energy, a state can ramp up nuclear energy or draw from storage.

What Happened in Texas?

The Lone Star State as well as other parts of the United States has been affected by severe winter storms, with temperatures in typically balmy Texas plunging to their coldest in more than 30 years. The state's independent energy grid collapsed under high demand for heat and left millions of people without electricity. In Texas alone almost 50 people died due to the crisis, some of them due to carbon monoxide poisoning as they were running cars to stay warm.

City of Richardson worker Kaleb Love breaks ice on

 a frozen fountain Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Richardson, Texas

The extreme temperatures also damaged the state's water pipes, which resulted in low water supply. In Austin, the capital, more than 325 million gallons of water were lost due to burst pipes. This also prompted local authorities to issue a boil water advisory for almost half of the state's 29 million people, as officials fear untreated water may have been infected with bacteria. 

Electricity has been restored in many parts of Texas, though 80,000 homes were still in the dark on Saturday. Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Texas as well as a state of emergency in other states such as Louisiana and Oklahoma. Biden also said he would visit the state if it doesn't hamper the relief efforts under way there.