Timeframe: September 10th – September 16th, 2021
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Contributors:
Maisha Maliha, Mansib Khan, Musarrat Sarwar Chowdhury, Sabyasachi Karmaker, Samia Tahsin Hoque, and Farhan Uddin Ahmed.
1. Economics & Business
Beijing plans to break up Ant’s Alipay and force the creation of separate loans app
The Chinese government intends to force Alipay, the super app owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, to create a separate app for its loan business, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The new app would have to hand over its user data to a new credit-scoring firm partly controlled by the state, the newspaper reported, quoting two people acquainted with the plan. This is the just latest in a long line of moves made by Chinese policymakers to limit Big Tech’s clout in the nation.
Source: Reuters
2. Politics
Afghanistan: Taliban leaders in bust-up at the presidential palace, sources say
A major row broke out between leaders of the Taliban just days after they set up a new government in Afghanistan, senior Taliban officials told the BBC. Supporters of two rival factions reportedly brawled at the presidential palace in the capital Kabul. The argument appeared to center on who did the most to secure victory over the US, and how power was divided up in the new cabinet. The Taliban have officially denied the reports.
Source: BBC
3. Significant Corona Update
The Next Pandemic: Study reveals the next flu wave might not be afar
An average of 400,000 covid-like infections takes place in China and Southeast Asia from bats and other vectors of the coronavirus, according to a study by the EcoHealth Alliance and Duke-NUS Medical School. While President Xi may have used the pandemic as an excuse to not meet President Biden, the pandemic seems to be gearing up as schools and offices reopen in states too poor to lock down and too poor to vaccinate the herd. Good news? Well, a panel of experts including from the FDA agreed in the Lancet journal that most people won’t need booster shots.
Source: Bloomberg
4. Science & Technology
Rivian beats Tesla, GM, Ford as the first automaker to produce electric pickup
Electric Vehicle start-up Rivian is the first automaker to bring an electric pickup to the consumer market, beating Tesla, General Motors, and others in what’s expected to be a hotly contested segment in the years ahead. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe on Tuesday tweeted that the company’s first R1T pickup for a customer drove off the assembly line in the morning at its plant in Normal, Illinois.
Source: CNBC
5. RMG/ Agriculture
Most agricultural funding distorts prices, harms environment: UN report
Around 87% of the $540 billion in total annual government support given worldwide to agricultural producers includes measures that are price distorting and that can be harmful to nature and health. That is the main finding of a new UN report calling for repurposing these incentives to achieve more of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and realize the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. The report, A multi-billion-dollar opportunity: Repurposing agricultural support to transform food systems, was launched on Tuesday by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Source: UN
6. Social and Education
The Mexican Supreme Court Decriminalizes Abortion: Latin Americans reckon with the right to choose among the Catholic majority
In a quiet turn from across the border, women’s rights advocates propelled by the #MeToo movement have overturned the federal injunction, but legal and medical help from federalized Mexico’s different state legislatures is yet to arrive. This will bolster the efforts of those down in Bolivia and elsewhere to secure rights among a majority Catholic, anti-abortion populace. However, on the other side of the world where sexual assault crimes were codified only recently, the Chinese influencer Zhou Xiaoxuan has faced a setback as her claims against the CCTV anchor were denied. She became the catalyst of the #MeToo movement when she has accused in 2018 that the star presenter assaulted her during her internship at the state television.
7. Environment
Mexico was hit by a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake, killing at least one
A severe earthquake struck near the beach resort of Acapulco in southwest Mexico, killing at least one person who was crushed by a collapsing post and inflicting rock falls and structural damage. The 7.0 magnitude quake shook the hillsides around the resort, downing trees and pitching large boulders onto the road.
Source: BBC
8. Expert Opinion
How to protect progress in the middle of a pandemic- Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates
In many ways, the pandemic has tested our optimism but hasn’t destroyed it- writes the co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Source: Gates Foundation
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the third parties mentioned above. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.