GENEVA: Three years since the Covid pandemic began, nearly 200 prominent world figures called on Saturday for the vaccine inequity seen during the crisis to be relegated to history.
“We ask world leaders to pledge ‘never again’,” the current and former dignitaries said an open letter.
It was published to mark the three-year anniversary since the World Health Organization first described the Covid-19 crisis as a pandemic.
The letter, coordinated by the NGO coalition People’s Vaccine Alliance, was signed by Timor-Leste President Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta, who won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, alongside the former leaders of more than 40 countries.
Several other Nobel laureates, faith leaders, and former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon were among the signatories, alongside a range of current and former UN agency heads.
With the end of the pandemic in sight, “the world is at a critical juncture,” they wrote.
“Decisions made now will determine how the world prepares for and responds to future global health crises. World leaders must reflect on mistakes made in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic so that they are never repeated.”
The letter criticized the glaring inequity that characterised the response to the pandemic, which has officially killed nearly seven million people worldwide, although the true toll is believed to be far higher.
While a number of highly effective vaccines against Covid-19 were developed at record speed, wealthy nations were quick to snap up most of the initial doses, leaving vulnerable people in many poorer nations waiting in vain for jabs.
Still today, fewer than a third of people in low-income countries have received at least one vaccine dose, while three quarters of people have in high-income countries, according to UN data.
“There are decades of publicly funded research behind Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and tests,” the letter said.
“Governments have poured taxpayer money by the billions into research, development and advance orders, reducing the risks for pharmaceutical companies,” it said.
“These are the people’s vaccines, the people’s tests and the people’s treatments,” it insisted.
But “instead of rolling out vaccines, tests and treatments based on need, pharmaceutical companies maximized their profits by selling doses first to the richest countries with the deepest pockets,” it said.
The letter pointed to a study last year in the science journal Nature estimating that 1.3 million fewer people would have died of Covid if the jabs had been distributed equitably in 2021, amounting to “one preventable death every 24 seconds” that year.
The letter urged leaders to support the tricky, ongoing international negotiations toward a pandemic accord, to ensure that equity is a key feature in the final agreement.
This, it stressed, would require governments to agree on the thorny issue of waiving intellectual property rules automatically if international public health emergencies arise, to ensure the sharing of medical technology and knowhow.
It also called for large-scale investments to develop scientific innovation and manufacturing capacity in the global south, to ensure that vaccines and treatments can be quickly developed and rolled out in all regions.
With such actions “world leaders can begin to fix the structural problems in global health that have held back the response to Covid-19, HIV and AIDS and other diseases,” it said.
“It is time to embed justice, equity and human rights in pandemic preparedness and response.”
Leaders say ‘never again’ to vaccine inequity
https://arab.news/gva28
Leaders say ‘never again’ to vaccine inequity
- While a number of highly effective vaccines against Covid-19 were developed at record speed, wealthy nations were quick to snap up most of the initial doses, leaving vulnerable people in many poorer nations waiting in vain for jabs
Thai, Cambodian army chiefs to meet over border clash
- A Cambodian soldier was killed on Wednesday during an exchange of gunfire with the Thai army at the border
- Cambodia and Thailand have long been at odds over their more than 800-kilometer-long border
BANGKOK: The military chiefs of Thailand and Cambodia will meet Thursday, both governments said, after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border clash.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters on Thursday that “both sides should remain calm and discuss to see what we can agree,” and called for peaceful discussion.
Her Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet wrote on Facebook that he hoped the meeting between the two army commanders “will yield positive results.”
Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told journalists the talks will be held on Thursday afternoon, adding that there had been a “misunderstanding by both sides.”
A Cambodian soldier was killed on Wednesday during an exchange of gunfire with the Thai army at the border, a Cambodian army spokesman said.
His death – a rare fatality along the long-sensitive frontier – came after Cambodian and Thai leaders attended a Southeast Asian summit where the regional ASEAN grouping vowed greater cooperation.
Thailand’s military said Wednesday that its soldiers fired in response to gunshots from Cambodia’s border force, leading to an exchange lasting around 10 minutes before the Thai side said the Cambodians requested a ceasefire.
Cambodian Royal Army spokesman Mao Phalla confirmed the clash on Wednesday, but said Thai soldiers had attacked Cambodian troops who were on border patrol duty in northern Preah Vihear province.
“Our soldier died in the trenches. The Thais came to attack us,” Mao Phalla said.
Cambodia and Thailand have long been at odds over their more than 800-kilometer-long (500-mile) border, which was largely drawn during the French occupation of Indochina.
Bloody military clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbors erupted in 2008 over the Preah Vihear temple near their shared border.
The row over a patch of land next to the 900-year-old temple led to several years of sporadic violence, resulting in at least 28 deaths before the International Court of Justice ruled the disputed area belonged to Cambodia.
In February, Bangkok formally protested to Phnom Penh after a video of women singing a patriotic Khmer song in front of another disputed temple was posted on social media.
On Thursday, influential former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen – Hun Manet’s father, and an ally of Paetongtarn’s father, ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra – urged calm and a peaceful resolution to the ongoing border issues between the two countries.
Paetongtarn traveled to Cambodia in April for a two-day visit, during which she met Hun Manet to discuss cross-border cooperation on issues such as online scams and air pollution.
Navy plane crashes in South Korea
SEOUL: A navy plane has crashed in the southern city of Pohang in South Korea, a local government official said on Thursday.
The crash happened at around 1:50 p.m. (0450 GMT), the official at the Pohang city government said.
Four people were on board the patrol plane which crashed in the mountains on the east coast, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing authorities.
Smoke was seen from the location where the plane appeared to have crashed, Yonhap said, citing a civilian witness.
Early voting starts for South Korea election triggered by martial law
- South Koreans are desperate to draw a line under months of political turmoil
- The Asian democracy has been led by a revolving door of lame duck acting presidents
SEOUL: Early voting in South Korea’s presidential elections began on Thursday, with both main candidates casting ballots in a poll triggered by ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s ill-fated suspension of civilian rule last year.
South Koreans are desperate to draw a line under months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon’s declaration of martial law, for which he was impeached.
Since then the Asian democracy has been led by a revolving door of lame duck acting presidents as its export-driven economy grapples with trade turmoil abroad and sluggish demand at home.
All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate.
Trailing behind him is conservative ex-labor minister Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party – Yoon’s former party – at 35 percent.
While election day is set for June 3, those who want to vote early can do so on Thursday and Friday.
South Koreans have in recent years turned out in growing numbers for early voting, with 37 percent casting their ballots ahead of polling day in the 2022 presidential election.
By midday the early voting turnout rate was 8.7 percent, the highest yet for that time in South Korean election history, according to Seoul’s National Election Commission.
The overseas voter turnout also reached a historic high, with four-fifths of 1.97 million eligible voters casting their ballots.
“Given that this election was held in the wake of an impeachment and a martial law crisis, it naturally reflects the public’s strong desire to express their thoughts about democracy in South Korea,” Kang Joo-hyun, a political science professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, said.
Voting in Seoul on Thursday morning, Lee told reporters: “There’s a saying that a vote is more powerful than a bullet.”
“Even an insurrection can only truly be overcome through the people’s participation at the ballot box,” added Lee of the Democratic Party.
According to a Gallup poll, more than half of his supporters said they planned to vote early, compared to just 16 percent of Kim’s supporters.
Kim has said he will cast his vote in Incheon, west of Seoul, with his campaign framing it as “the beginning of a dramatic turnaround,” a nod to General Douglas MacArthur’s landing there during the Korean War.
Kim’s decision to vote early has surprised many on the right, where conspiracy theories about electoral fraud – particularly during early voting – are rife.
The 73-year-old however reassured his supporters that there is “nothing to worry about.”
“If you hesitate to vote early and end up missing the main election, it would be a major loss,” said Kim on Wednesday.
“Our party will mobilize all its resources to ensure strict monitoring and oversight of early voting,” he said.
“So please don’t worry and take part in it,” he said.
After early voting, Kim insisted he still has time to win the race.
“We’re closing the gap quickly, and at this pace, I’m confident we’ll take the lead soon,” he told reporters.
Conservative candidate Kim shot to public attention in the aftermath of Yoon’s martial law debacle, when he declined to bow in apology to the public for failing to prevent the suspension of civilian rule.
In contrast, lawyer-turned-politician Lee played a central role in stopping the push to suspect civilian rule, live-streaming his frantic drive to parliament and his scramble over the perimeter fence as he and other lawmakers raced to vote down the decree.
He has since vowed to “bring insurrection elements to justice” if elected president.
But whoever succeeds Yoon will have to grapple with a deepening economic downturn, some of the world’s lowest birth rates and a soaring cost of living.
He will also have to navigate a mounting superpower standoff between the United States, Seoul’s traditional security guarantor, and China, its largest trade partner.
East Timor to deport former Philippine lawmaker wanted in 2023 killings
- Former Philippines congressman Arnolfo Teves allegedly masterminded a March 2023 attack that killed then-provincial governor Roel Degamo and nine others
MANILA: East Timor has agreed to deport an Interpol-wanted Philippines murder suspect after two years of political wrangling, with the government linking the case to its aspirations to join the regional ASEAN bloc.
Former Philippines congressman Arnolfo Teves allegedly masterminded a March 2023 attack that killed then-provincial governor Roel Degamo and nine others.
Teves was detained at a driving range in Dili last year, but a Timorese court blocked his extradition. Manila’s justice secretary suggested the decision may have been bought, saying it was “obvious that some people are making money out of this.”
In an abrupt turnaround, East Timor late on Wednesday announced Teves’ impending deportation, saying his continued presence represented a security risk.
“The Government hereby informs that Arnolfo Teves Jr. will be deported from Timor-Leste,” it said in a statement, using the country’s alternate name.
It added that East Timor’s “imminent full accession” to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had reinforced its responsibility to collaborate regionally on legal matters.
On Thursday, Manila’s Department of Justice said it was preparing a team to facilitate Teves’ repatriation based on deportation documents from East Timor.
Ex-lawmaker Teves is the prime suspect in the murder of former Negros Oriental governor Degamo.
Degamo had been distributing aid at his home in Pamplona when six people carrying rifles and dressed in military fatigues entered the compound and opened fire on March 4, 2023.
The killings came months after Degamo was declared winner of a disputed vote, unseating Henry Teves, the ex-lawmaker’s brother.
Arnolfo Teves was expelled from the House of Representatives after refusing to return to the Philippines to face murder charges.
On Wednesday, Teves’ son Axl posted videos on social media of his father being dragged away by Timorese police, claiming he had been “kidnapped.”
Degamo’s widow Janice, meanwhile, called the arrest a “significant step toward justice.”
Teves is currently being held in detention while awaiting administrative processing, a source at Dili’s interior ministry said.
German leader offers to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missiles to hit Russia
- But some of the advanced weapon systems that allies have supplied to Ukraine were subject to range and target restrictions2
- After the United States, Germany has been the biggest individual supplier of military aid to Ukraine
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged Wednesday to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets as the Kyiv government fights to repel Russia’s invasion.
Some of the advanced weapon systems that allies have supplied to Ukraine during the 3-year war were subject to range and target restrictions — a fraught political issue stemming from fears that if the weapons struck deep inside Russia, the Kremlin might retaliate against the country that provided them and draw NATO into Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
Standing beside visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merz said that under an intensified cooperation agreement, Germany “will strive to equip the Ukrainian army with all the capabilities that truly enable it to successfully defend the country,” including upgraded domestic missile production.
After the United States, Germany has been the biggest individual supplier of military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine will be able to fully defend itself, including against military targets outside its own territory” with its own missiles, Merz said at a joint news conference.
Hours after Merz’s pledge, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov publicly invited Ukraine to hold direct peace talks with Moscow in Istanbul on June 2.
In a video statement, he said that Russia would use the meeting to deliver a memorandum setting out Moscow’s position on “reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis.” He also said any Russian delegation would again be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
“We hope that all those who are sincerely interested in the success of the peace process in more than just words will support a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,” Lavrov said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said his country isn’t opposed to such direct peace talks but it still hasn’t seen the memorandum promised by Russia and that further meetings would be “empty” without it.
“We call on them to fulfill that promise without delay and stop trying to turn the meeting into a destructive one,” Umerov wrote on X. He said he had handed such a document with the Ukrainian position to the Russian side.
Low-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years in Istanbul on May 16. The talks, which lasted two hours, brought no significant breakthrough, although both sides agreed to the largest prisoner exchange of the war. It was carried out last weekend and freed 1,000 captives on each side.
Germany doesn’t mention its Taurus cruise missiles
Merz declined to say whether Germany will supply its advanced Taurus long-range cruise missile to Ukraine — long a request by Kyiv and a step that Berlin has resisted.
The decision not to commit to giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine was a “big disappointment,” said lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior member of Merz’s party, the Christian Democratic Union.
Merz loves “very strong personal statements” but is not able to back them up with support from his coalition partners, Kiesewetter told The Associated Press.
“We have a Moscow connection in Germany,” Kiesewetter said, suggesting some politicians are in favor of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia to end the war, along with lifting some sanctions.
Asked about Germany’s offer to fund long-range missile production in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that the move was an obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.
Both Merz and Zelensky criticized the Kremlin’s effective rejection of an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the US, which Kyiv accepted. Kyiv says Moscow has been slow to respond to proposals for a settlement.
Merz said last Monday that Germany and other major allies were no longer imposing range limits on weapons they send to Ukraine, although he indicated their use was limited to Russian military targets. Ukraine has launched its own long-range drones against sites that support Russia’s military efforts, including refineries and chemical plants.
Then-US President Joe Biden last year authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied missiles for limited strikes in Russia. The decision allowed Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, against Russia.
In Berlin, Zelensky called for deeper defense cooperation across Europe and with Washington, stressing the need for long-range capabilities and sustained military funding to ensure Ukraine’s resilience.
He said the cooperation projects already exist. “We simply want (the missiles) to be produced in the quantity we need,” Zelensky told reporters.
Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelensky said he would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Russia is grateful to Trump for his mediation efforts.
“At the same time, there is a big number of nuances to be discussed that can’t be neglected and which neither party is going to sacrifice, because of its national interests,” Peskov told reporters. “Just like the United States, Russia has its national interests that are of primary importance to us.”
Front-line fighting, deep strikes continue
Meanwhile, fighting has continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukraine’s army is shorthanded against its bigger adversary. Zelensky claimed Tuesday that Russia is mobilizing up to 45,000 men every month, while Ukraine mobilizes between 25,000-27,000.
Both sides are continuing to conduct deep strikes. Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war against Ukraine on Sunday.
Russian air defenses downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, in what appeared to be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone assaults of the war.
Ukraine is increasing its domestic production of drones and missiles, according to Zelensky. He said late Tuesday that Ukraine wants European countries to help it invest in the manufacture of attack drones, air defense interceptors, cruise missiles and ballistic systems.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses shot down Ukrainian 33 drones heading toward the capital. Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said 42 drones were downed. He said drone fragments damaged three residential buildings in the village of Troitskoye, but no one was hurt.
More than 60 flights were canceled Wednesday in Moscow as the capital’s airports were forced to ground planes amid drone warnings, said the federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya.
Overnight, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine using five Iskander ballistic missiles, one guided air-launched missile and 88 drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defense units shot down 34 drones, and 37 drones were jammed.
