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WHO urges governments to increase taxes on alcoholic and sugary drinks

EESHAN GARG-UNSPLASH

LONDON — The World Health Organization (WHO) urged governments on Tuesday to increase taxes on alcoholic drinks and impose them on products that are currently exempt, such as wine in some European countries.

Sugary beverages should also be taxed at higher rates, the WHO said, adding that every year 2.6 million people die from drinking alcohol and 8 million people die due to unhealthy diets.

Rudiger Krech, director of health promotion at the WHO, said taxing such products at a higher rate creates healthier populations.

“It has a positive ripple effect across society — less disease and debilitation and revenue for governments to provide public services,” Mr. Krech continued, adding that in the case of alcohol it also helps prevent violence and road traffic injuries.

Public health organizations like the WHO are increasingly turning their attention to the health impact of products like alcohol and sugary food, after making significant gains in highlighting the death and disease caused by cigarettes.

The WHO also released an “alcohol tax manual” on Tuesday to accompany similar documents targeting tobacco and sugar sweetened beverages.

It says that most alcohol taxes are “low and not optimally designed” and that wine is not taxed at all in 22 countries, mostly in Europe, calling on governments to introduce higher rates and tax all kinds of alcohol.

Drinking alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions, including some cancers, liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular diseases, according to the WHO.

Alcohol industry associations say that higher levies lead to reduced sales and lower tax revenues, while threatening some businesses’ survival. — Reuters

Young Chinese spurn traditional investments in favor of gold

JINGMING PAN-UNSPLASH

SHANGHAI/BEIJING — Gold buyers in China are getting younger, as a property market downturn, weakening stocks and currency and low bank deposit interest rates have left them with dwindling options to save for rainy days in a sputtering economy.

The trend underscores heightening uncertainty about growth prospects in the world’s second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 lockdowns as fast as consumers and job hunters had expected.

“The employment market has not been very good,” said Linda Liu, 26, who works for a pharmaceuticals company in Beijing, but worries about job stability. “Buying gold makes me feel better.”

“I want gold jewelry instead of diamonds for my wedding.”

China is the world’s top buyer of physical gold and analysts say this year it has been an increasingly important driver behind a rally in global spot gold prices, which hit all-time highs on Monday.

Analysts expect Chinese demand for the safe haven metal to remain high as economic growth grinds lower in coming years and foreign investment outflows weigh on the yuan, while the property market is still looking for a bottom.

“Incomes are not really appreciating, real estate is not really appreciating, the stock market is not really appreciating,” said Jacques Roizen, managing director of consulting at Digital Luxury Group in Shanghai.

“Gold is a little bit of a unicorn in this environment.”

Gold and silver jewelry have been among the best performing consumer goods in China this year, with a 12% rise in value year on year in January-October, outpaced only by garments, according to the latest retail sales data.

A Chinese consumer survey released by jewelry firm Chow Tai Fook in late October found 70% of consumers aged between 18 and 40 intend to purchase pure gold jewelry.

While China has long been a top global consumer of gold jewelry, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group managing director Kent Wong said that traditionally, customers in China have been older. “We’ve found people aged 18 to 24 have started to buy gold jewelry, and we were very surprised by this,” Mr. Wong said.

Chinese social media discussions about steady gold accumulation abound, with users recommending small jewelry and marble-like gold “beans” as small as one gram that could be purchased even by those with low incomes for 450 to 550 yuan ($63 to $77).

Beijing student Nadia Qi, 21, has spent as little as she could of her pocket money on daily necessities while spending more than $2,000 on gold bars and jewelry so far this year. “The only thing that I can trust and makes me feel relatively safe now is investing in gold,” said Ms. Qi, who plans to buy at least 20 grams a year for rainy days. “The deposit rate is way too low, and investing in the stock market is too risky.”

The one-year deposit rate at major Chinese banks ranges from about 1.5% to 1.8% and has declined in recent months.

China and India, the world’s two biggest gold buyers, together account for more than half of total global demand.

In China, gold trades at a premium to the global spot price. That spread has been $25 to $35 per ounce in the past week, down from a record high of $121 in mid-September, but still above its usual $5 to $15 range.

Office worker Yang, 38, from the central Hunan province, is not discouraged by the rise in gold prices, arguing “the yuan has been depreciating, financial investment is too risky … and the property market remains disappointing.”

“There are not many choices left,” said Ms. Yang, who only gave her surname for privacy reasons. “Gold is like hard currency, and this is especially true in the face of mounting geopolitical uncertainties for the moment.” — Reuters

Biden says Hamas raped, mutilated women during Oct. 7 assault on Israel

REUTERS

BOSTON — US President Joseph R. Biden said on Tuesday that Hamas had repeatedly raped women and mutilated their bodies during its Oct.7 assault on southern Israel, citing survivors and witnesses of the attacks.

Speaking at a political fundraiser in Boston, Mr. Biden said accounts of “unimaginable cruelty” had been shared over the past few weeks.

“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive, of women’s corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them. It is appalling,” Mr. Biden said.

The president called on international organizations, civil society and individuals to condemn sexual violence “without exception.”

Israeli police are investigating possible sexual crimes by some of the few hundred people that they arrested after the Oct. 7 attack. Israel’s justice ministry has said “victims were tortured, physically abused, raped, burned alive, and dismembered.”

In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hamas said it denounced Mr. Biden’s “attempt to falsely accuse” its fighters of committing sexual violence and rape on Oct. 7.

The Islamist group said Mr. Biden was joining Israel’s effort to cover up war crimes in Gaza committed with US support and to mislead public opinion.

Israel held an event at the United Nations in New York on Monday focused on sexual violence against women during the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has been critical of the world body’s response to the attacks.

“As a global community we must respond to weaponized sexual violence, wherever it happens, with absolute condemnation. There can be no justification and no excuses. Rape as a weapon of war is a crime against humanity,” former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the event in a pre-recorded video.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden blamed Hamas for the collapse of a truce last week that had halted Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Gaza, saying the militant group’s “refusal to release the remaining young women is what broke this deal.”

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of wrecking negotiations to extend the week-long pause in fighting, which resumed on Dec. 1.

Since then, Israeli forces have expanded their ground operations on Hamas-run Gaza and stormed its main southern city. Gaza health officials say 16,248 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks.

Hamas fighters who rampaged through Israeli towns on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages, according to Israel’s tally. More than 100 hostages were freed during the truce.

During the fundraiser, Biden said: “Everyone still being held hostage by Hamas need to be returned to their families immediately. We’re not going to stop.” — Reuters

Australia to end daily letter delivery as postal service pivots to parcels

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Rebecca Lintz from Pixabay

SYDNEY — Australia Post will soon end daily letter deliveries as part of a series of postal reforms announced on Wednesday designed to modernize the government-owned postal service and help it turn a profit.

Letters will only be delivered every second business day for 98% of locations, although parcel delivery would continue daily. Australia Post will also have an extra day to deliver regular mail.

The changes announced jointly by the communications and finance ministers, have been trialed and will roll out over the next 12 months along with other reforms like increasing the number of parcel collection points.

Australia Post chief executive officer Paul Graham said the reforms recognized the “true cost” of mail delivery and would help the service build a more sustainable business focused on parcels.

“As eCommerce continues to boom and fewer and fewer Australians send letters, the changes to letters frequency announced today will free up our posties to also focus on parcels and packages,” Graham said in a statement.

Letter deliveries have fallen by two-thirds since 2008 alongside a massive e-commerce fueled boom in package delivery. Australia Post delivered half a billion parcels last financial year, or roughly 20 per person.

But it lost A$200 million ($131.70 million) before tax for the 2023 financial year ended in June, only its second time in the red since 1989, and warned of future losses without reforms.

Losses in the letter business rose 50% to A$384 million.

Australia Post is government-owned but self-funded and required to deliver a financial return.

A trial found the proposed reforms let workers carry up to 20% more parcels and deliver to 10% more locations.

The changes will also allow Australia Post to manage priority mail, roughly 8% of all letter traffic, differently to “deliver services at a more commercial rate,” the joint ministerial statement said.

Australia Post has applied to the competition regulator to increase the basic letter postage rate to A$1.50 from A$1.20 from early near year. — Reuters

Gift sets lead Christmas gift searches on Google in Philippines — Picodi report

PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

Gift sets saw the biggest increase in Google queries in the Philippines last Christmas season, according to a report by analytics site Picodi.com, naming them the most sought-after holiday present.

There was a 193% increase in the popularity of gift sets in December 2022, based on queries from the January-November period, followed by cosmetic sets (163%) and gift cards (156%), Picodi’s e-mailed report on Wednesday showed.

Gift sets were also found to be the most popular type of gift globally, with a 510% increase, it added.

“The ranking was created based on the increase in popularity of gift-related Google queries in December 2022 compared to the rest of the year, utilising data collected through Google Trends,” it noted as its methodology for the analytics. 

“The list of queries we analysed consists of various gift suggestions, ranging from traditional gifts such as chocolate, toys and cosmetics to modern tech, including smartwatches, smart speakers and air humidifiers,” it added. 

Pyjamas (125%) and sweaters (120%) came behind the ranking, trailed by electric kettles (100%), eau de toilette perfumes (91%), massagers (87%), wireless headphones (86%), and thermal mugs (85%), according to Picodi. 

It noted some similarities among Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, which saw thermal mugs, gift sets, and gift cards as its most sought-after gifts. 

For Singapore, electric grills, scented candles, and gift sets landed on top, it added. 

Additionally, the InMobi 2023 Holiday Retail Guide for Advertisers showed that 57% of local holiday shoppers have increased their budgets for online shopping, yet it noted 43% have less than P10,000 in budget. 

It added that 35% have a budget of P10,000 to P25,000, 13% can spend P25,000 to P50,000, and 5% eye running through over P50,000. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola

World animal health body warns of swine fever vaccine risks as Vietnam readies exports

REUTERS

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is warning that more testing of African swine fever vaccines is needed, triggered by Vietnam’s plans to export doses in coming months to fight a disease that regularly ravages pig farms worldwide.

In a world first, Vietnam authorized in July two attenuated live-virus vaccines against the disease, which is not deadly to humans but is extremely infectious among pigs and has caused repeated disruptions to the global pork market, which data provider Research and Markets said was worth about $250 billion in 2022.

WOAH says AVAC Vietnam JSC, the producer of one of the two vaccines, has not shared sufficient data with international researchers and bodies.

Gregorio Torres, head of the science department at WOAH, urged countries interested in using AVAC’s vaccines to conduct their own trials before approving it.

In October, as AVAC was about to announce deals with importers of its vaccine in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Myanmar, WOAH warned of risks “from use of sub-standard vaccines”.

Torres said that Vietnam’s announcements led to the warning, but that it was not linked to concerns about specific vaccines.

AVAC says that its vaccine is not dangerous and that widespread use will demonstrate it.

“We have proven our product is safe and effective and we need some time to prove that to all, including those showing concern,” Nguyen Van Diep, AVAC’s chief operating officer, told Reuters.

He said the company had shared data. Nguyen Van Long, head of Vietnam’s Animal Health Department, said on Wednesday data on trials had been discussed in international conferences and meetings.

Diep said that the vaccine had been safely used in farms in 17 provinces in Vietnam since its approval and that sales were increasing.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discovered the AVAC vaccine, which was then developed in Vietnam because the virus is not present in the United States. The agency did not have access to Vietnam’s trials data, a USDA spokesperson told Reuters.

“If somebody puts in the market a vaccine which is suboptimal, it will impact everybody,” Torres said, noting that it is harder to assess vaccines in countries with ongoing epidemics, such as Vietnam, because pigs could be infected by the attenuated virus in the vaccine alongside the wild virus.

Countries are eager for vaccines against African swine fever (ASF), which is incurable and has a high fatality rate, resulting in heavy losses for farms that become infected.

China has also developed several vaccines but none has gotten commercial approval.

AVAC is producing between 2.5 and 5 million doses a month and was planning to export 5 million, pending approval from the countries where the company signed commercial deals, Diep said, noting that a green light from the Philippines might come early next year.

TRADE SANCTIONS?
Torres said the agency was discussing a new global standard for evaluating ASF vaccines, with possible approval coming in May at the WOAH general assembly. The intergovernmental organization, based in Paris, has 183 member states.

The standard would not be compulsory, as national regulators decide on approvals, but it could lead to trade restrictions against pork-exporting countries that vaccinate pigs with sub-standard shots.

The AVAC vaccine was trialled in the Philippines with 300,000 doses. The Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines, which is in charge of the vaccine approval, did not reply to requests for comment.

Philippines Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano told Reuters his country had not approved or purchased the vaccine yet, noting the regulator’s authorization was critical to food security, as the country faces a national emergency caused by the spread of ASF.

Regulators from India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia did not respond to requests for comment.

The second approved ASF vaccine, produced by Vietnam’s Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine from a USDA platform, had shared positive trial data and is being tested in the Dominican Republic, the USDA said.

Navetco did not reply to a request for comment. — Reuters

Death toll in Philippine ‘killer curve’ bus accident rises to 17

A passenger severely injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in the central Philippines has died, taking the death toll from the accident to 17, authorities said on Wednesday.

The bus was carrying dozens of people when its brakes failed in the central province of Antique on Tuesday afternoon, the local governor, Rhodora Cadiao, told a press conference.

Seven people were in critical condition while four were stable and recovering, she said.

Local media had reported earlier than 28 died in the crash.

Ms. Cadiao said the bus was travelling to Culasi in Antique from the neighbouring province of Iloilo when its brakes malfunctioned on a winding road and it plunged 30 metres (98.5 feet) into the ravine.

“We call that area the killer curve. It was already the second bus that fell off there,” Ms. Cadiao told DZRH radio station.

Rescue operations at the site have stopped after all visible bodies were retrieved, the Antique government said on Facebook.

“The engineering design of this road is very faulty,” Ms. Cadiao said. “I want to condemn that road already.”

The Philippines is notorious for its lax regulation on public transportation and poorly maintained roads. — Reuters

PHL police identifies 2 members of pro-Islamic State group as bomb suspects

DHSUD

MANILA — Philippine police on Wednesday identified two persons of interest as suspects involved in a deadly blast that killed four people during a catholic Mass in a southern city at the weekend. 

Those suspected of orchestrating the attack in Marawi were members of Daulah Islamiya-Maute, a pro-Islamic State militant group that took control of the city in 2017 and held it throughout five months of ground offensives and air strikes by the military. — Reuters

China issues draft rule on management of domestic investments by social security fund

A GENERAL VIEW shows Beijing’s skyline on a sunny day in this file photo. — REUTERS

BEIJING — China’s finance ministry on Wednesday issued a draft rule on the management of domestic investments by the country’s social security fund.

The social security fund will make direct and private equity investments with strict risk control, the ministry said.

The Ministry of Finance will also moderately reduce the upper limit of the management fee rate and custody rate of the social security fund, it added. — Reuters

Myanmar central bank to no longer set forex rates — state media

REUTERS

Myanmar’s central bank will no longer set exchange rates for foreign currencies and will instead allow banks and licensed dealers to set their own rates, state media reported on Wednesday.

The announcement was made in a statement by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) on Tuesday, according to the military-controlled media, which provided no reason for the policy change. 

No statement was posted on the CBM’s website early on Wednesday. — Reuters

Yellen says US would be ‘responsible for Ukraine’s defeat’ if aid fails in Congress

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — REUTERS

MEXICO CITY — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that the United States would be “responsible for Ukraine’s defeat” if Congress fails to approve the Biden administration’s latest multi-billion-dollar funding request for the war-torn country.

Yellen told reporters on a trip to Mexico City that the funding – particularly for Ukraine’s general government budget support – was “utterly essential” and a pre-condition to keep International Monetary Fund support flowing to Ukraine.

“I’ve talked to members of Congress, my colleagues have. I think they understand this, that this is a dire situation and we can hold ourselves responsible for Ukraine’s defeat if we don’t manage to get this funding to Ukraine that’s needed, and I’m including direct budget support here because that’s utterly essential,” Yellen said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said that postponement of the U.S. aid created a “big risk” that Ukraine would lose its nearly two-year-old war against Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskiy later canceled plans to address Congress to appeal directly for U.S. aid as Congress wrangled over Republican demands to tie the aid to a revamp of U.S. immigration and border policies. U.S. lawmakers have been debating a supplemental spending package of over $100 billion that would include aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as border funding.

Yellen said the U.S. funding for Ukraine was also essential for U.S. allies in Europe that were providing more generous aid to help Ukraine prevail in its struggle against Russian aggression.

“Ukraine is just running out of money,” Yellen said. “They’re spending more than every penny they’re taking in, in tax revenue, on military salaries and defense, and they wouldn’t have any schools or hospital or first responders if not for the money we’re sending to them to support them.”

The U.S. aid to Russia has come with “very strong controls to guard against any misuse of the funds, any corruption,” Yellen said, adding that the government budget support was being channeled through the World Bank, which has strong anti-corruption safeguards to ensure the money goes to intended uses. — Reuters

EU to issue firm words at China summit with limited expectations

REUTERS

BRUSSELS — Top EU officials will raise an array of concerns from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to trade irritants in a summit with Chinese leaders on Thursday that is expected to be long on firm words, but short on outcomes.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in the morning and Premier Li Qiang in the afternoon on their one-day visit to Beijing.

There will be no joint statement from Thursday’s talks, EU officials said, and they do not expect concrete outcomes from the first in-person EU-China summit since 2019.

“There’s not a single outstanding deliverable that will be crowning the summit,” said one EU official

By contrast, Xi’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in California in November did produce agreements, although simmering differences remained, particularly over Taiwan.

The European Union will also have questions on Chinese intentions towards Taiwan, but its focus will be on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union wants Beijing to use its influence on Russia to stop the war, will stress the need to respect sanctions on Russia and will raise the issue of growing arms supply from North Korea to Russia.

The bloc is also concerned about what it considers “imbalanced” economic relations, saying its near 400 billion euro ($431.7 billion) trade deficit with China reflects restrictions on EU businesses.

China will be expected to ask about an EU anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles and about the EU’s “de-risking” policy to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports, particularly of critical raw materials.

EU officials say the two sides could cooperate more on action to combat climate change and to promote biodiversity.

They also point to a series of dialogues set up on macro-economics and trade. These include the EU’s planned CO2 emissions import tariff and the circular economy, a possible increase in the number of food products whose names would be protected – such as only applying the term “feta” to a specific Greek cheese.

“These are not per se major summit deliverables … but in certain areas there are mutual interests and we can make a difference by working technically and practically together,” an EU official said. — Reuters

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