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US to detail global distribution plan for 80 mn vaccine doses

SAN JOSE (REUTERS) – The United States will announce in the next two weeks how it plans to distribute 80 million Covid-19 vaccine doses it has pledged globally, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday (June 1). Speaking at a joint news conference with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, Mr Blinken said the administration of US President Joe Biden would focus on equitable distribution of the vaccines and not tie political strings to the process, a criticism at times directed at China. “Some time in the next week to two weeks – we will be announcing the process by which we will distribute those vaccines, what the criteria are, how we will do it,” Mr Blinken said during his first trip as secretary of state to Latin America, which is fighting to contain Covid-19. “We will distribute vaccines without political requirements of those receiving them.” On Monday, Mr Biden said his administration would send at least 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca doses he had already planned to give to other countries. The Biden administration has been under pressure to share vaccines to

The Executive Centre bought by KKR and Tiga Investments as pandemic spurs consolidation of Hong Kong’s flexible workspace sector

Drought-hit 'tinderbox' California braces for fires in months ahead

PARADISE, UNITED STATES (AFP) – “Now, when there’s smoke here, everybody panics,” said Steve Crowder, mayor of the small town of Paradise that was almost wiped off the map by California’s deadly 2018 wildfires. The former police officer still struggles to hold back tears when talking about the blaze that claimed dozens of lives and engulfed 95 per cent of his community’s buildings. “It’s still hard to get over the 85 people that didn’t get out,” he told Agence France-Presse. “It’s the most horrific thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life… I think fire terrorises everybody here.” Across California, deadly infernos have only expanded in size since that traumatic year – in 2020, some 4.3 million acres (1.74 million hectares) went up in smoke. Now, the western US state is bracing for the worst as yet another dry summer approaches. Already five times more vegetation has burned this year compared to the same time last year. “In the last 25 months, we’ve had 101 civilians perish in wildfires with over 21,000 structure destroyed within Butte County,” said John Messina, fire chief of the county where Paradise is located. “That supersedes anything that California

Saudis dismiss call to end oil spending as 'La La Land' fantasy

RIYADH (BLOOMBERG) – At first glance, a 200-page treatise on energy efficiency might not resemble a glitzy Hollywood musical fantasy. But it depends on the audience. The International Energy Agency stirred some passionate debate last month when it urged an end to new oil and gas investments to avert disastrous climate change. The adviser to major economies detailed the step and many others in its “road map” for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A less reverential verdict arrived on Tuesday (June 1) from the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. The IEA’s energy blueprint, the kingdom said, is a sequel to La La Land – the whimsical 2016 romantic comedy movie whose lead characters break out into song-and-dance numbers. “Why should I take it seriously?” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said when asked about the report at an Opec press conference. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, speaking earlier on Bloomberg Television, gave a more down-to-earth description of his agency’s work. The 2050 outlook merely “translates” the policy aspirations of many governments to limit greenhouse gases into practical measures, he said. Climate activist Greta Thunberg said on Twitter that the dismissive response