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https://www.nationthailand.com/world/asia-pacific/40020312

Asian Stocks Decline As Fed Forecast More Hikes Ahead

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Asian Stocks Dove On Thursday, As Investors Digested The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Latest Interest Rate Hike And Its Forecast Of More Hikes To Come In Its Fight Against Soaring Inflation.

The Nikkei 225 index opened down 0.95% and repeatedly tested the 27,000 psychological barriers before falling through for the first time since July 19. It closed for the break down 0.97% at 27,047.37 points. The Bank of Japan kept ultra-low interest rates unchanged on Thursday and vowed to hold them there, contrasting against a global tide of monetary tightening by central banks.

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 1.16%, to 2,319.98 points as of 0115 GMT, hitting its lowest intraday level since July 15. Hong Kong stocks slumped to the lowest since 2012 with the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropping as much as two per cent to 18,080.9 points. China’s Shanghai Composite Index started lower by 0.59% at 3,098.77 points.

The Fed raised rates sharply, by 75 basis points, on Wednesday – the third such rise in a row. That took the bank’s benchmark overnight rate target range to 3-3.25% and led to the dollar index surging to a fresh two-decade high.

Reuters

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World Leaders Pledge Billions To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis And Malaria On Wednesday Reached $14.25 Billion Pledged As World Leaders Seek To Fight The Killer Diseases After Progress Was Knocked Off Course By The Covid-19 Pandemic.

US President Joe Biden, who hosted the conference in New York on the sidelines of the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, said the funding is crucial to combating the diseases.

“This is an investment that will save another 20 million lives, reduce mortality from these diseases another 64% in the next four years,” Biden said.

The United States had previously said it would pledge $6 billion for the next funding cycle.

The fund, a public/private alliance based in Geneva, is seeking $18 billion for its next three-year funding cycle from governments, civil society and the private sector. Before Wednesday’s conference, it had already raised more than a third of the total.

The Global Fund said the $14.25 billion figure is likely to increase as more donations are expected.

Canada would contribute C$1.21 billion ($898.9 million) to a global health fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and support health services that have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The funding commitment to the Global Fund is a 30% increase over Canada’s last pledge to the initiative and brings the country’s total contributions to the fund to nearly C$4 billion.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged another 300 million euros, bringing France’s total contribution for the funding period to 1.6 billion euros.

In its 2022 report, the fund said the reach of its treatment and prevention efforts rebounded last year after declining for the first time in almost 20 years in 2020, but the world is still not on track to defeat these diseases.

The fund estimates its work has saved around 50 million lives since its inception in 2002.

Reuters

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Prisoners Of War Released In Ukraine After Major Surprise Swap

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Prisoners Of War Were Released In Ukraine On Wednesday After An Unexpected Prisoner Swap Was Carried Out With Russia, The Largest Since The War Began And Involving Almost 300 People.

The swap included 10 foreigners and the commanders who led a prolonged Ukrainian defence of Mariupol earlier this year.

Various prisoners were seen walking free in a location given as Chernihiv.

Saudi Arabia brokered an arrangement whereby the 10 foreigners were flown to Saudi Arabia.

The mediation involved Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has maintained close ties with Putin.

The freed prisoners were American, British, Croatian, Moroccan and Swedish nationals, the ministry said in a statement, adding that a plane carrying the prisoners landed in the kingdom.

The timing and magnitude of the swap came as a surprise, given that Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced a partial troop mobilisation earlier in the day in an apparent escalation of the conflict that began in February.

Pro-Russian separatists had also said last month that the Mariupol commanders would go on trial.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the swap – which involved help from Turkey and Saudi Arabia – had been under preparation for quite a long time and involved intense haggling.

Under the terms of the deal, 215 Ukrainians – most of whom were captured after the fall of Mariupol – were released.

In exchange, Ukraine sent back 55 Russians and pro-Moscow Ukrainians and Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of a banned pro-Russian party who was facing treason charges.

Reuters

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Wind And Solar Top 10% Of Global Power Generation For First Time

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

Renewables Made A Record Contribution To Global Grids In 2021, But Coal-Fired Power And Emissions Jumped To New Highs, According To BloombergNEF’s Power Transition Trends

The world’s wind and solar projects combined to meet more than a tenth of global electricity demand for the first time in 2022, according to research company BloombergNEF (BNEF).

At the same time overall electricity demand, production from coal-fired power plants, and emissions all surged in 2021 as the global economy regained its footing following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies said: “New spikes in coal generation are a troubling sign for the economy, our health, and the fight against climate change. This report should be a rallying cry to leaders around the world that the transition to clean energy requires bigger and bolder actions, including actions that empower nations that have contributed the least to climate change – but bear many of its worst consequences – to make progress tackling it.”

With nearly 3,000 terawatt-hours of electricity produced, wind and solar accounted for a combined 10.5% of global 2021 generation, BNEF found in its annual Power Transition Trends report.

Wind’s contribution to the global total rose to 6.8% while solar climbed to 3.7%.

A decade ago, these two technologies combined accounted for well under 1% of total electricity production. In all, 39% of all power produced globally in 2021 was carbon-free. Hydro and nuclear projects met just over one-quarter of the world’s electricity needs.

Every year since 2017, wind and solar have accounted for the majority of new power-generating capacity added to global grids. In 2021, they hit record three-quarters of the 364 gigawatts of new capacity built. Including hydro, nuclear and others, zero-carbon power accounted for 85% of all new capacity added.

“Renewables are now the default choice for most countries looking to add or even replace power-generating capacity,” said Luiza Demôro, head of energy transitions at BloombergNEF. “This is no longer due to mandates or subsidies, but simply because these technologies are more often the most cost-competitive.”

Solar continued to expand at a particularly fierce pace in 2021, both in terms of new capacity additions and new markets. Solar was half of all global capacity added, at 182 gigawatts. Its contribution to global grids topped 1,000 terawatt-hours for the first time.

Solar has also become essentially ubiquitous. In nearly half of all countries tracked by BNEF where some capacity was added, solar was the top choice in terms of volume. At least 112 countries now have at least one megawatt of solar capacity installed.

Despite the incredible inroads renewables have made, the Power Transition Trends report paints a stark picture of the enormous work that remains for the power system to address its role in climate change.

As the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, electricity demand surged 5.6% year on year, putting new strains on existing infrastructure and fossil fuel supply chains.

Lower-than-expected production from hydro plants and higher natural gas prices also helped put coal-fired power back in the spotlight in more markets.

Production from coal plants set records by jumping 8.5% from 2020-2021 (up 750 terawatt-hours on a net basis) to 9,600 terawatt-hours. Over 85% of that generation came from 10 countries, with China, India and the US alone accounting for 72%.

Meanwhile, countries continued to complete the construction of new coal plants in 2021, and coal still accounts for the single largest share of global capacity at 27%. One small bright spot: the speed at which new coal is being added to the grid is slowing. Just 13 gigawatts of new coal-fired capacity were completed in 2021, down from 31 gigawatts in 2020 and 83 gigawatts in 2012.

Nonetheless, the result was a commensurate 7% spike in global CO2 emissions from the power sector in 2021 compared to 2020. Power-sector emissions set a new high at 13,600 megatons of CO2, BNEF estimates.

“It was a year of highs and highs, for the best and worst reasons,” said Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at BNEF. “Renewables grew very fast, but coal’s comeback and the fact that countries – including those that have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions – continue building the coal is really disconcerting.”

BNEF’s Power Transition Trends report was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and will be officially released at the United Nations Climate Action: Race to Zero and Resilience Forum in New York today.

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Angelina Jolie Visits People Affected By Floods In Pakistan

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

Humanitarian, Activist And Hollywood Star Angelina Jolie Arrived In Pakistan On Tuesday Afternoon To Support And Directly Speak To Families Affected By Floods.

According to a press release issued by the International Rescue Committee, Jolie has arrived to witness and gain an understanding of the situation and to hear from people about their needs and steps to prevent such suffering in the future.

The actor reportedly arrived in Dadu’s Zamzama oil fields via helicopter and used a boat to survey the area in Johi and its surrounding areas. She is expected to provide aid to flood-affected people.

Jolie previously visited Pakistan in 2010 and 2005 to meet victims of the earthquakes. She is currently visiting as part of the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) emergency response operations.

The Maleficent actor will highlight the urgent support needed for the people of Pakistan and long-term solutions to address the crises of climate change and human displacement.

In the press release, the IRC hoped that her visit will prompt the international community — particularly the US which contributes the most to carbon emissions — to act and provide urgent support to countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.

IRC Pakistan Country Director Shabnam Baloch said, “The climate crisis is destroying lives and futures in Pakistan, with severe consequences, especially for women and children. The resulting economic loss from these floods will likely lead to food insecurity and an increase in violence against women and girls. We need immediate support to reach people in urgent need, and long-term investments to stop climate change from destroying our collective futures. With more rains expected in the coming months, we hope Angelina Jolie’s visit will help the world wake up and take action.”

The Committee’s latest assessment reveals that people are in urgent need of food, clean drinking water, shelter and healthcare. A survey reported that women and young girls have no access to menstrual hygiene products either. The IRC has reached more than 50,000 women and girls with humanitarian assistance, including hygiene kits to address the sanitary concerns raised by women.

Dawn

Asia News Network

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Asean Sets Up Panel To Review Thorny Issues Affecting Trade Deal With India

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

THE NATION

Asean Economic Ministers Set Up A Joint Committee To Hold Talks With India On Issues That Are Obstructing A Free Trade Deal, Especially The Requirement For Goods To Show The Country Of Origin, Which Is Hard To Comply With, The Vice Commerce Minister Said On Wednesday.

Sansern Samalapa said the committee was established during the 19th Asean Economic Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia on September 16.

Sansern was assigned by Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit to attend the meeting on his behalf.

Apart from setting up the committee, the meeting endorsed the scope for reviewing the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement, or AITIGA.

The committee will be in charge of holding talks on reviewing the AITIGA, which came into effect on January 1, 2010.

So far, India has reduced import tariffs to zero per cent on 73 per cent of goods imported from Asean countries, Sansern said.

But, he hastened to add, Thai companies have been receiving little benefit from the free-trade agreement because of the strict requirement that goods must show proof of the country from which they originate.

As a result, Sansern said, the renegotiations would be a good chance to review the issue to respond to the current manufacturing structure of Asean countries. The talks would also touch on other obstacles coming in the way of the free-trade agreement between India and Asean, Sansern added.

During the meeting, the Asean ministers also discussed economic cooperation with the Asean-India Business Council.

The council called for a review of the AITIGA to be more comprehensive and to cover more products, Sansern said.

He said the council also called on Asean and India to make customs clearance more convenient for companies on both sides.

Last year, the value of bilateral trade between Asean and India was US$91.49 billion (3.37 trillion baht), an increase of 39.26 per cent from the previous year.

Asean exported goods worth $53.7 billion and imported $37.7 billion worth of products.

The value of trade between Thailand and India was $14.94 billion, an increase of 52.52 per cent, with the kingdom’s exports totalling $8.5 billion and imports amounting to $4.3 billion.

THE NATION

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ADB Lowers Developing Asia Growth Outlook As Global Risks Mount

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Again Lowered Its Forecasts For Economic Growth In Developing Asia And The Pacific, Amid Mounting Challenges That Include Increased Monetary Tightening By Central Banks, Fallout From The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, And Covid-19 Lockdowns In China (PRC).

In September, the ADB lowered its economic forecast for Thailand from 3.0 per cent of growth, which was predicted in April, to 2.9 per cent.

Also in September, the ADB lowered its forecast of Thailand’s economic expansion next year from 4.5 per cent, which was predicted in April, to 4.2 per cent.

The region’s economy is expected to grow 4.3% this year, compared with the bank’s projection in April of a 5.2% expansion, according to an update of the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022, released today. The growth forecast for next year has been lowered to 4.9% from 5.3%, while the region’s inflation forecast has been raised. Excluding the PRC, the rest of developing Asia is projected to grow by 5.3% in both 2022 and 2023.

Domestic consumer spending and investment are driving growth as economies in the region continue to relax pandemic restrictions, thanks in part to vaccination drives and declining COVID-19 mortality. However, the continuing invasion of Ukraine has heightened global uncertainty, worsened supply disruptions, and unsettled energy and food markets. More aggressive monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank is denting global demand and rattling financial markets. Meanwhile, sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks and new lockdowns have slowed growth in the PRC, the region’s largest economy.

“Developing Asia continues to recover, but risks loom large,” said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park. “A significant downturn in the world economy would severely undermine demand for the region’s exports. Stronger-than-expected monetary tightening in advanced economies could lead to financial instability. And growth in the PRC faces challenges from recurrent lockdowns and a weak property sector. Governments in developing Asia need to remain vigilant against these risks and take the necessary steps to contain inflation without derailing growth.”

The world’s major advanced economies are forecast to grow 1.9% in 2022 and 1.0% in 2023, slower than projected earlier this year. High inflation has prompted the US and the euro area to aggressively tighten monetary policy, weakening demand in these economies, which also continue to be affected by supply-chain disruptions and uncertainty from the invasion of Ukraine.

ADB raised its forecast for inflation in developing Asia this year to 4.5% from a previous projection of 3.7%. The forecast for next year is 4.0%, up from 3.1%. While inflation in the region remains lower than elsewhere, supply disruptions continue to push up food and fuel prices.

The PRC’s growth outlook for this year was downgraded to 3.3% from a 5.0% projection in April. This will be the first year in more than 3 decades that the rest of developing Asia will grow faster than the PRC. The forecast for India was lowered to 7.0% from 7.5%, due to higher-than-expected inflation and monetary tightening.

Robust domestic demand in Indonesia and the Philippines are contributing to an improved outlook of 5.1% growth this year for Southeast Asia, although weaker prospects for global demand have led to a downgrade in the forecast for next year.

The outlook for 2022 has also improved for the Caucasus and Central Asia, which are expected to see 3.9% growth this year, and for the economies of the Pacific, projected to expand by 4.7% as tourism continues to bounce back from the pandemic.

The update to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 includes a theme chapter titled Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age. The chapter looks at how digital entrepreneurship can lead to greater growth and innovation, and how governments in the region can create an environment for digital entrepreneurs to thrive.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/world/russia-central-asia/40020287

Putin Signs Decree On Partial Military Mobilisation

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

President Vladimir Putin On Wednesday (September 21) Ordered Russia’s First Mobilisation Since World War Two, Warning That Moscow Would Respond With The Might Of All Its Vast Arsenal If The West Continued With What He Called Its “Nuclear Blackmail.”

The blunt warning from Russia’s paramount leader, whose country has more nuclear warheads than even the United States, marks the biggest escalation of the conflict, which began on February 24 when Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in what it casts as its “special military operation”.

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we use all available means to protect our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation.

Putin accused the West of plotting to destroy Russia and gave his explicit support to referendums that will be held in swathes of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops, the first step to the formal annexation of a chunk of Ukraine the size of Hungary.

The conflict in Ukraine, which has triggered the worst confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, has killed tens of thousands and sent an inflationary wave crashing through the global economy.

Putin said he had signed a decree on partial mobilisation. The mobilisation, which affects anyone who has served as a professional soldier in Russia rather than a conscript, begins immediately.

Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said separately he expected 300,000 people to be called up.

After pro-Russian officials in four areas of Ukraine controlled by Russian soldiers asked for referendums on joining Russia a day earlier, Putin said Moscow did not have the moral right to give them up to “executioners”

Russia, Putin said, would support the decisions of the people of the Donbas and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. That paves the way for the formal annexation of about 15% of Ukrainian territory.

Putin said his aim was to “liberate” east Ukraine’s Donbas region, and that most people living in regions under Russian control did not want to be ruled by Kyiv anymore.

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World Leaders Slam Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine At UN General Assembly

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

During The 77th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly, Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Was High On The Agenda Amid Soaring Prices For Energy And Food.

Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, as world leaders meet at the United Nations in New York.

Draghi said it was imperative to find a lasting solution for peace.

”We can only emerge from crises by looking to the future, with courage and ambition. Our goal is peace. Such peace must be deemed acceptable to Ukraine. The only one that can be lasting and sustainable. So far, Russia has not shown that it wants an end to the conflict,” he said.

Looking to the future, Draghi said he hoped Russia would ”return to the principles it chose to subscribe to in 1945.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin will only give up his “imperial ambitions” that risk destroying Ukraine and Russia if he recognizes he cannot win the war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. 

“This is why we will not accept any peace dictated by Russia and this is why Ukraine must be able to fend off Russia’s attack,” Scholz said in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The return of imperialism, with Putin’s war on Ukraine, was not just a disaster for Europe but for the global, rules-based peace order, the chancellor said. He called on the U.N. to defend this from those who would prefer a world where the “strong rule the weak.” he said.

“Do we watch helplessly as some want to catapult us back into a world order where war is a common means of politics, independent nations must join their stronger neighbours or colonial masters, and prosperity and human rights are a privilege for the lucky few?” Scholz asked.

“Or do we manage together to ensure the multipolar world of the 21st century remains a multilateral world? My answer, as a German and European, is: we must manage it,” he added.

To better achieve this end, the global south needed a greater say in world affairs, Scholz said. With greater responsibility would come greater conviction, he said.

Scholz announced Berlin would host a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine on Oct. 25. Germany would help the Kyiv government with the “enormous cost of rebuilding the country,” Scholz added.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as destabilising the international order to its core and said the rule of law, not coercion by power, should prevail.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a conduct that tramples the philosophy and principles of the U.N. charter … It should never be tolerated,” Kishida said.

Kishida, who hails from Hiroshima, the first city to ever suffer an atomic bombing, also denounced the threat of nuclear weapons by Russia.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, and, shortly after, Russian President Vladimir Putin obliquely raised the possibility of a nuclear strike.

Last month, a Russian diplomat said at the United Nations that the conflict in Ukraine did not warrant Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, but Moscow could decide to use its nuclear arsenal in response to “direct aggression” by NATO countries over the invasion.

“The threat of nuclear weapons, like what Russia did this time, let alone the use of them, are serious threats to peace and safety of the international community, and are never be acceptable,” Kishida said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine also dominated the Polish president’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said, Russia’s war “must be lost.”

While the conflict has garnered much attention since it began earlier this year, it is naturally of special significance to Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine.

Speaking at the UNGA, Polish President Adrzej Duda embraced the righteousness of the Ukrainian cause.

But it is for further, more concrete reasons that Russia’s invasion fully occupied the time given to Duda at the U.N.

As he explained during his speech, Duda’s nation of 38 million residents has seen an uptick of some two or three million since the conflict began seven months ago.

But the masses swelling into Poland have been taken care of by the country, its leader said, with all having been provided with “dignified accommodation.”

Romania’s President Klaus Werner Iohannis also broached Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly and said there was “no justification for bloodshed, destruction, and human suffering”.

Iohannis said that since February more than 2.3 million Ukrainians have fled to Romania, where they are granted access to education, health services, and the labour market.

According to Iohannis, Romania is trying to help manage the global food crisis and has assisted to export four million tons of Ukrainian grain.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of modern-day imperialism that was based on the law of the jungle and pleaded for neutral countries to stop being complicit by remaining silent about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, Macron warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was dividing the world and restoring the “age of imperialism and colonies.”

“I know that there are countries here that have chosen a form of neutrality vis-a-vis this war. But I want to tell you with honesty today, those who think that are not aligned they are wrong they are making a historic error” Macron said in a 30-minute speech that called on countries to no longer sit on the fence.

“Russia, a permanent member of the security council, through an act of aggression, an invasion, an annexation broke our collective security, it deliberately violated the UN Charter and the principles of sovereign equality of states,” he said.

Macron dismissed the narrative that the West was trying to defend outdated values to serve its interests and that the rest of the world had suffered because of it.

Western allies have been competing with Russia for diplomatic influence since the Kremlin began its invasion on Feb. 24.

Putin on Feb. 24 ordered what he calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine to root out dangerous nationalists and “denazify” the country. The war has killed thousands, destroyed cities and sent millions fleeing their homes in the former Soviet republic.

Reuters