Will ‘Investor-State Arbitration’ Survive the COVID-19 Crisis?

07.05.20 | 0 Comments

opinionjuris.org

[Somesh Dutta specializes in international dispute resolution. He is currently working with the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European & Regulatory Procedural Law as a Research Fellow and is a member of the International Max Planck Research School for Successful Dispute Resolution (IMPRS-SDR).]

In particular, developing economies with a large consumer base may have a crucial role in shaping the future of international investment adjudication, and thus an influence on the future flow of capital for global economic growth.

Tiếp tục đọc “Will ‘Investor-State Arbitration’ Survive the COVID-19 Crisis?”

Is there a way out of Southeast Asia’s COVID-19 disaster?

eastasiaforum.org

21 July 2021

Author: Swee Kheng Khor, Kuala Lumpur

The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to Southeast Asian countries. The region is experiencing accelerated national-level tragedies played out in accelerated speed.

People wearing protective masks queue to refill oxygen tanks as Indonesia experiences an oxygen supply shortage amid a surge of COVID-19 cases, at a filling station in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 5, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)

Tiếp tục đọc “Is there a way out of Southeast Asia’s COVID-19 disaster?”

2 in 5 schools around the world lacked basic handwashing facilities prior to COVID-19 pandemic — UNICEF, WHO

UNICEF.org

NEW YORK/GENEVA/HA NOI, 14 August 2020 – As schools worldwide seek to put in place safety measures that allow them to reopen, the latest data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) reveals that 43 per cent of schools around the world lacked access to basic handwashing with soap and water in 2019 – a key condition for schools to be able to operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Global school closures since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have presented an unprecedented challenge to children’s education and wellbeing,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “We must prioritize children’s learning. This means making sure that schools are safe to reopen – including with access to hand hygiene, clean drinking water and safe sanitation.” 

Tiếp tục đọc “2 in 5 schools around the world lacked basic handwashing facilities prior to COVID-19 pandemic — UNICEF, WHO”

Miễn trừ bảo hộ quyền sở hữu trí tuệ với vắc xin trong cuộc chiến chống Covid-19

noip.gov.vn – Th 3, 25/05/2021 | 13:50  

Để cung cấp thêm thông tin về vấn đề liên quan đến việc miễn trừ nghĩa vụ bảo hộ quyền sở hữu trí tuệ (SHTT) đối với các sản phẩm y tế phòng chống Covid-19, điển hình là vắc xin, bài viết này giới thiệu cơ sở của việc miễn trừ nghĩa vụ bảo hộ quyền SHTT, các đề xuất và vấn đề liên quan đang được thảo luận tại Tổ chức Thương mại thế giới (WTO).

Ngày 06/5/2021, Đại diện Thương mại Hoa Kỳ, bà Katherine Tai đã đưa ra tuyên bố công khai ủng hộ việc từ bỏ các biện pháp bảo hộ quyền SHTT đối với vắc xin Covid-19 của chính quyền Hoa Kỳ. Nhiều nước thành viên WTO và các tổ chức phi chính phủ, điển hình là Liên minh vắc xin nhân dân1 đã bày tỏ quan điểm ủng hộ tuyên bố này. Mới đây nhất, ngày 20/5/2021, Nghị viện châu Âu cũng đã thông qua việc kêu gọi Liên minh châu Âu (EU) ủng hộ đề xuất nói trên. Về phía Việt Nam, ngày 13/5/2021, người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam đã phát biểu thể hiện quan điểm ủng hộ việc miễn trừ nghĩa vụ bảo hộ quyền SHTT đối với vắc xin Covid-19 để vắc xin sớm được phổ biến rộng rãi đến tất cả các nước trên thế giới. 

Miễn trừ bảo hộ quyền sở hữu trí tuệ với vắc xin trong cuộc chiến chống  Covid-19 - TIN TỨC-SỰ KIỆN - CỤC SỞ HỮU TRÍ TUỆ
Bà Lê Thị Thu Hằng – người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao trong cuộc họp báo thể hiện quan điểm ủng hộ đề xuất của Hoa Kỳ (nguồn: Báo Dân trí)

Tiếp tục đọc “Miễn trừ bảo hộ quyền sở hữu trí tuệ với vắc xin trong cuộc chiến chống Covid-19”

COVID-vaccine results are on the way — and scientists’ concerns are growing

Researchers warn that vaccines could stumble on safety trials, be fast-tracked because of politics or fail to meet the public’s expectations.
A protester holds a placard that says 'Freedom No Lockdown Masks Tests Vaccine'.

Protesters call for an end to COVID-19-based restrictions in Sacramento, California.Credit: Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty

Several ongoing coronavirus-vaccine trials could announce game-changing results next month. But as anticipation grows, concerns are growing about whether the vaccines will clear safety trials, what they will achieve if they do and the risk that the approval process will be influenced by politics, or at least seem to be. Tiếp tục đọc “COVID-vaccine results are on the way — and scientists’ concerns are growing”

Covid-19 in Vietnam — the fear, the tears, the pride and the debt

medium.com

FollowJun 21 · 5 min read

A friend elsewhere in Asia has an elderly parent in the UK. Chatting online she told me she’d read about this “slow-motion grief” affecting people as a result of the Covid-19 situation.

She told me she went on runs and cried through them. I admitted too I wasn’t sleeping. The smallest thing would make me emotional. I couldn’t think too far into the future because it all seemed too dark.

After Wuhan, things moved pretty quickly in Vietnam. Our little one’s nursery closed. Masks became compulsory. Track and trace was in full swing. An app was launched that offered various features. Most significantly, you could basically press a button and people in hazmat suits would appear.

Infected people were hospitalised. People who had come into contact with infected people were remotely quarantined. People who had come into contact with people who had come into contact with infected people were quarantined. People who had… well you get the picture.

Tiếp tục đọc “Covid-19 in Vietnam — the fear, the tears, the pride and the debt”

How Vietnam managed to keep its coronavirus death toll at zero

By Nectar Gan, CNN Updated 0716 GMT (1516 HKT) May 30, 2020

But there’s one overlooked success story — Vietnam. The country of 97 million people has not reported a single coronavirus-related death and on Saturday had just 328 confirmed cases, despite its long border with China and the millions of Chinese visitors it receives each year.
This is all the more remarkable considering Vietnam is a low-middle income country with a much less-advanced healthcare system than others in the region. It only has 8 doctors for every 10,000 people, a third of the ratio in South Korea, according to the World Bank.

Tiếp tục đọc “How Vietnam managed to keep its coronavirus death toll at zero”

Europe has kept down pandemic unemployment — and the U.S. hasn’t. Here’s why.

A closed sign is posted in the window of a store because of the coronavirus, in an outdoor mall, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A closed sign is posted in the window of a store because of the coronavirus, in an outdoor mall, in Dedham, Mass. (Steven Senne)
April 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. GMT+7

For the first time, the U.S. government is subsidizing companies to hold on to their workers. However, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that Congress passed to fight unemployment in the coronavirus economic crisis is having trouble delivering benefits. Its first round of funds was quickly exhausted.

Tiếp tục đọc “Europe has kept down pandemic unemployment — and the U.S. hasn’t. Here’s why.”

How Blood Sugar Can Trigger a Deadly Immune Response in the Flu and Possibly COVID-19

Glucose metabolism plays a key role in the cytokine storm seen in influenza, and the link could have potential implications for novel coronavirus infections

How Blood Sugar Can Trigger a Deadly Immune Response in the Flu and Possibly COVID-19
Influenza and COVID-19 infections can trigger an out-of-control immune response involving molecules called cytokines. An illustration of interleukin-4, a cytokine involved in allergic response, is shown here. Credit: Juan Gaertner Getty Images

Many of the people dying in the novel coronavirus pandemic appear to be harmed more by their own immune system than by the virus itself. The infection can trigger a cytokine storm—a surge in cell-signaling proteins that prompt inflammation—that hits the lungs, attacking tissues and potentially resulting in organ failure and death. But this phenomenon is not unique to COVID-19; it sometimes occurs in severe influenza, too. Now a study sheds light on one of the metabolic mechanisms that help orchestrate such runaway inflammation. Tiếp tục đọc “How Blood Sugar Can Trigger a Deadly Immune Response in the Flu and Possibly COVID-19”

‘Rice ATM’ feeds Vietnam’s poor amid virus lockdown

HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Rice ATM' feeds Vietnam's poor amid virus lockdown By Reuters

Vietnam has reported 262 COVID-19 cases, and no deaths so far, but as a result of a 15-day social distancing programme that began on March 31 many small businesses have been shuttered and thousands of people temporarily laid off from work.

Nguyen Thi Ly’s husband was among those who have lost their job. Tiếp tục đọc “‘Rice ATM’ feeds Vietnam’s poor amid virus lockdown”

Vietnam’s response to coronavirus crisis earns praise from WHO

Chris Humphrey and Bac Pham

7news.com.au – Monday, 13 April 2020 12:18 pm

Despite sharing a border with China, Vietnam has, with a combination of early decisive action, extensive testing, vigorous quarantining and social unity, so far avoided the devastation seen in Europe and the United States.

With coronavirus infections in the mere hundreds, Vietnam’s response to the crisis has earned praise from the World Health Organisation.

Official statistics show there are currently more than 75,000 people in quarantine or isolation. The country has so far conducted more than 121,000 tests, from which only 260 cases were confirmed.

Empty streets in central Hanoi, Vietnam amid concerns of the spread of the Coronavirus.

Empty streets in central Hanoi, Vietnam amid concerns of the spread of the Coronavirus. Credit: Linh Pham/Getty Images Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s response to coronavirus crisis earns praise from WHO”