Author: Spost_admin

Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. Close squeaks, as with Ebola and COVID-19, show that a divided WHO can be catastrophic. Conversely, a united WHO is a vital defence against borderless health threats yet to come. Take SEARO – the focus of this article, after we earlier considered EMRO. The South-East Asia Region is special in WHO annals as it is the first regional office that opened – in 1948 in New Delhi where it is still based. SEARO’s 11 me

Indonesia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, frequently exposed to various geophysical and climate-related hazards. In 2021, flooding was the most frequent type of natural disaster in Indonesia, with a total of 788 cases. Unlike other natural disasters such as landslides, hurricanes, drought, forest fires and earthquakes, flood cases have shown an increase in intensity over the previous decade. But some Indonesian cities perform better than others in managing the deadly risk of urban flooding, even if important conditions such as geography and rainfall pattern are roughly the same. Surprisingly, cities that do not invest heavily in massive technological interventions do just as well or even better than cities that depend on such interventions. Beyond the engineerin

India Today said 'the error is regretted' following the mistake in its coverage on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's arrival at the G20 summit. India Today, an Indian media outlet, has expressed 'regret' over an error in its coverage of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's arrival at the Group of 20 (G20) summit last Friday (8 Sept). PM Lee arrived at the G20 Summit and was shown walking down a red carpet before engaging in a friendly exchange with India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. However, in its coverage, India Today introduced Lee as the "outgoing Prime Minister of Singapore" and said that former Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam — who was recently elected Singapore's next president — would become the country's new prime minister. A video clip of the incident was

Zodia Custody, a company that helps large institutions store their crypto, launched in Singapore on Tuesday in a bid to tap into the country’s rapidly growing digital asset market. The development makes Zodia the first entity that is owned by and partnered with banks to provide digital asset custody services for financial institutions in Singapore, Zodia said in a news release. Zodia is a subsidiary of Standard Chartered, the British bank with a presence largely in emerging markets, such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East. StanChart launched Zodia in 2021 alongside Northern Trust, in a move that highlighted curiosity from big institutions in interacting with digital currencies. Zodia is also part-owned by SBI Digital Asset Holdings, the crypto division of Japanese bank SBI. As part

China is unlikely to top US presidential candidates’ talking points as concerns over domestic politics, the economy and the Supreme Court take precedence Expect both sides to hedge their bets and defer any significant agreements as stable relations and market access are in their short-term interest This Labour Day weekend marks summer’s unofficial end for Americans and the shift into high gear for the 2024 US presidential race. With partisan loyalty high, a sharply divided electorate means a fierce and costly duel for a sliver of swing voters in battleground states – a likely replay of 2020 without the pandemic-crippled economy.Being “tough on China” will again figure in campaign rhetoric. Clashes over Taiwan, trade, relations with Russia and the US military presence in Asia will

As China's economy takes a precarious turn, the government's tactics are becoming clear: Maintain control by shrouding economic figures in darkness. Beijing recently announced that it would no longer publish youth unemployment figures, a decision that comes amid disappearing data and a bevy of questions surrounding the true state of China's economy. Despite this, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ continue to climb. The S&P 500 is currently up more than 18% year to date, and the NASDAQ has cleared more than 43% year to date. Many other U.S. markets are on the rebound. The housing market continues to climb despite rising interest rates. The retail startup investing market continues to do well, with platforms like StartEngine having nearly $100 million invested ...

After the United Nations delivered a bombshell report last year exposing a litany of atrocities in China's Xinjiang region, Amnesty International blasted the "woefully inadequate" international reaction on Thursday. On the first anniversary of the report's release, Amnesty International expressed disappointment that the international community, including certain sections of the United Nations, had "shied away from the kind of resolute steps needed to advance justice, truth, and reparation for victims." For failing to "clearly emphasize the urgent need for accountability for (China's) alarming violations," the rights organization singled out UN rights director Volker Turk.