Insight america

SINGAPORE - A younger leader with a long enough runway to tackle the huge challenges of a post-pandemic world is what Singapore needs, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat when he stepped aside as the leader if the fourth-generation team. As the 4G political office-holders deliberate over their next leader, Insight looks at the main issues that lie ahead and the traits needed to handle them. Finding sweet spot amid volatile global landscape for next 4G leader Singapore's economy has just registered its first quarterly growth since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with gross domestic product growth this year likely to exceed the upper end of the official 4 per cent to 6 per cent forecast range. Some Covid-19 measures have lapsed in tandem with the recovery, and wage subsidies under the Jobs Support Scheme have tapered. But recovery is uneven. The export-oriented manufacturing sector has charged ahead, while the construction and services sectors are still ... » Learn More about 4 key challenges ahead for Singapore’s next 4G leader

SANTIAGO (REUTERS) - Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac was 67 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic infection in the first real-world study of the Chinese shot, the Chilean government said on Friday (April 16). The vaccine was 85 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations and 80 per cent effective in preventing deaths, the government said in a report prepared by the Chilean health ministry. The release of the data makes Chile one of a handful of countries, including the United Kingdom and Israel, that have used inoculation campaigns to gather insights into how effective vaccines are outside controlled clinical trials and when faced with unpredictable variables in societies. Israel's real-world study of the effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine looked at the results among 1.2 million people, a mix of those who received the shot and those who did not. Chile's study examined CoronaVac's effectiveness among 10.5 million people, again looking both at people who had been ... » Learn More about China’s Sinovac vaccine 67 per cent effective against symptomatic infection: Chile report

FILE PHOTO: This May 1, 2018, photo shows Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) San Francisco, United States — Advocates for children from around the world urged Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday to ditch plans for a version of Instagram geared toward pre-teens. Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood and the Electronic Privacy Information Center were among nearly 100 groups and individuals from North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia to make the plea in a letter to Zuckerberg. Instagram “exploits young people’s fear of missing out and desire for peer approval,” the letter contended. “The platform’s relentless focus on appearance, self-presentation, and branding presents challenges to adolescents’ privacy and well-being,” it argued, building on concerns about predators, bullies, and inappropriate content. Instagram is exploring the launch of a version of the image-centric social network for children under 13, with parental ... » Learn More about Zuckerberg urged to nix kids’ version of Instagram

Liza Soberano showed her passion for fighting for the struggles of women and children in a recent webinar by Gabriela Youth. Image: Facebook/@GabrielaYouthPH Liza Soberano stressed the importance of taking a stand, especially when it comes to the issue of violence against women and children, citing her own experience of defending herself. The actress took the time to address an online audience at the Gabriela Youth webinar “Mga Tinig ni Nene: Reclaiming Our Voices on the International Day of the Girl Child” on Tuesday, Oct. 13, while she is in the United States caring for her grandmother. Soberano’s statements begin at the 57:00 mark. Mga Tinig ni Nene: Reclaiming Our Voices on the International Day of the Girl Child Live! 由 Gabriela Youth 發佈於 2020年10月13日 星期二 The “Alone/Together” star became emotional as she recalled women she knew who faced gender-based struggles. “I find it so unfair that we women have to go out every day in fear of getting ... » Learn More about Liza Soberano gets emotional on women’s struggles: ‘So unfair that we have to go out every day in fear’

FUJAIRAH: The United Arab Emirates’ envoy to Washington confirmed the Gulf state is mediating between India and Pakistan to help the nuclear-armed rivals reach a “healthy and functional” relationship. Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, people with knowledge of the matter had said. Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said in a virtual discussion with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on Wednesday that the UAE played a role “in bringing Kashmir escalation down and created a ceasefire, hopefully ultimately leading to restoring diplomats and getting the relationship back to a healthy level.” “They might not sort of become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it’s functional, where it’s operational, where they are speaking to each other,” he said. In 2019, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Indian-ruled ... » Learn More about UAE bridges peace between India, Pakistan

The breakthroughs achieved by science in developing highly effective vaccines against COVID-19 are nothing short of extraordinary. What once took up to a decade has been done in less than a year. This is primarily a result of remarkable international cooperation. Yet the impact of those achievements will be dangerously undermined unless the whole world has access to COVID-19 vaccines. Together, we must absolutely ensure that a two-tier system does not develop between those who have access to vaccines, and those who do not. That is why COVAX, the first-of-its-kind multilateral initiative to distribute vaccines around the world, including for those most in need and least able to pay, is so critical. Set up by some of the world’s leading health bodies – including GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) – COVAX is the largest vaccination program in history and is on track to ensure that all people, ... » Learn More about Unity is delivering for the world

SINGAPORE - Globally, sea-level rise is increasing at a faster pace, threatening Asia's coastal megacities and low-lying island nations such as Singapore. Warming oceans and faster melting of ice caps are driving sea levels higher, but the severity of the problem depends on how much and how quickly we cut greenhouse gas emissions. Far from being a future problem, rising sea levels is a real threat today for many places around the globe. To discuss this urgent issue, The Straits Times is hosting a webinar on Wednesday (April 21) that will look at the latest science and projections of sea-level rise and solutions, including nature-based options, to hold back the seas. It promises to be a lively and insightful discussion featuring an expert panel comprising Professor Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University; Dr Zeng Yiwen, senior research fellow at the NUS Centre for Nature-Based Climate Solutions; and Ms Hazel Khoo, ... » Learn More about ST Webinar to discuss sea-level rise threat and solutions

NEW YORK: Citigroup’s Jane Fraser will become the first woman to lead a major Wall Street firm after the banking giant on Thursday picked her as its next chief executive. Fraser is set to take over the top job in February, replacing Michael Corbat who will retire. Her appointment was touted on social media for shattering Wall Street’s glass ceiling and comes amid intensifying focus on the need to diversify American corporate leadership in the aftermath of the “Me Too” movement on workplace equity and mass protests in the US for racial justice. “Jane Fraser’s appointment is an historic moment for women,” Texas Democratic Representative Al Green said on Twitter. “But we still have a way to go to achieve diversity & inclusion that captures the whole of our nation.” In April 2019, Green pressed Corbat and six other Wall Street CEOs at a congressional hearing, asking the seven white men if they foresaw a successor who was a woman or a person of color — none raised his hand. ... » Learn More about Citigroup’s Fraser breaks WS barrier

NEW YORK: Racial inequality has cost the US economy $16 trillion in wealth over the last two decades, Citigroup said in a report Thursday (Friday in Manila). The banking giant — pointing to the drag from unequal pay, housing discrimination, education disparity and other longstanding ills in the United States — simultaneously pledged $1 billion in initiatives for Black-oriented business needs. “Addressing racism and closing the racial wealth gap is the most critical challenge we face in creating a fair and inclusive society and we know that more of the same won’t do,” said Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat in a press release. “Citi is committed to leading the way and investing in communities of color to build wealth and strong financial futures.” The glossy 104-page report, which features a photo of a fist-bump between a white and Black person on its cover, lays out a gamut of issues, including policing and voting rights. Its release come as US businesses face pressure to ... » Learn More about Racial inequality costs US $16T – Citi

SEATTLE: Major US financial firms are helping fund environmental destruction and indigenous rights abuses in the vast Amazon rainforests with billions of dollars in investments in questionable companies, according to a report published Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila). Six top firms — BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, Bank of America and Dimensional Fund Advisors — have invested more than $18 billion over the past three years in mining, agribusiness and energy companies involved in a “series of abuses” in the world’s biggest rainforest, found the report by the environmental group Amazon Watch and the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB). “Major financiers… are using their clients’ money to enable the wanton behavior of companies linked to indigenous rights violations and the devastation of the Amazon rainforest,” said Amazon Watch program director Christian Poirier. “This financial complicity in destruction contradicts the climate and human rights pledges ... » Learn More about Citi, JP Morgan destroy Amazon – report