NEWS

Around Asia Pacific in seven stories…

HEALTHCARE

Auckland

KIWI BORDER RESTRICTIONS UNPEEL

AFTER MORE THAN two long arduous years of lockdowns and restrictions, New Zealand is fully reopening its borders and welcoming back all international travellers to the kiwi nation, as it continues to recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country officially reopened on July 31st, three months earlier than was previously announced. Earlier this year, the borders were opened to Australians and citizens of 60 locations that do not require visas to enter, including Singapore, the US and the UK.

Its largest city Auckland was in lockdown for 107 days, from August to December 2021, due to outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant.

SUSTAINABILITY SEA-ING SIGNS OF RECOVERY

SECTIONS OF AUSTRALIA’S Great Barrier Reef are showing the highest levels of coral cover in 36 years, stretching across two-thirds of this vast natural expanse.

However, the reef remains vulnerable to increasingly frequent mass bleaching. The recovery in the central and northern stretches of the UNESCO world heritage-listed reef contrasts drastically with the southern region, where there was a loss of coral cover due to an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish.

UNESCO is currently considering whether to classify the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, following a visit by experts in March.

AEROSPACE WORST CASE SCENARIO

AUSTRALIAN AIRLINE GIANT Qantas has asked its senior executives to fill in as baggage handlers for three months, as it attempts to tackle an intensive labour shortage.

The firm’s head of operations is searching for a minimum of 100 volunteers to work at Sydney and Melbourne airports.

Tasks will include loading and unloading bags as well as driving vehicles to move luggage around airports. Like much of the global airline industry, Qantas is struggling to resume its services as borders reopen. The high levels of winter flu and a COVID-19 spike across the country, coupled with the ongoing tight labour market, have made resourcing a challenge throughout the aviation industry.

FOOD & DRINK CHINA NUT AMUSED

MARS WRIGLEY, THE maker of the Snickers chocolate bar, has been forced to apologise for a Snickers product launch that Chinese social media users said suggested Taiwan was a country.

Videos and images showing a website promoting a limited-edition Snickers bar and saying the product was only available in the “countries” of South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, have triggered an outpouring of anger across a variety of Chinese social media platforms.

Mars Wrigley later published an online apology and said the relevant content had been amended, detailing how it respects China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

TECHNOLOGY FROM STAGE TO SCREEN

JAPAN’S THREE-DAY FUJI Rock musical event has long been a gathering that can only be experienced by trekking out to the mountains of Niigata Prefecture every summer. However, this year the festival has teamed up with YouTube to livestream select performances for free across the globe.

This partnership has helped invigorate one of the country’s mightiest music festivals. While attendance at Fuji Rock fluctuated during the 2010s, the arrival of live video has rejuvenated the event into something anyone with a Wi-Fi connection can now enjoy.

Streaming is now the new norm for any festival wanting to attract a wider audience. Coachella, Lollapalooza and Fuji Rock’s biggest inspiration, Glastonbury, have all embraced livestreaming across recent incarnations.

TRANSPORT VIETNAMESE CAB CARNAGE

AN EXTREME TAXI shortage in Vietnam continues to exasperate travellers and expats, leading to outbreaks of fist fights and up to two hour waits at airports, as visitors scrum over cabs.

In Hanoi, the city is experiencing a shortage of taxis so severe that brawls over catching a ride have become an almost daily occurrence as the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions has increased demand, while high gas prices have kept drivers at home.

Vietnamese locals usually get around using their own motorcycles. However, foreigners working in Vietnam or those arriving on business trips frequently use taxis. The shortage has persisted for several months, starting to affect the quality of life for international business travellers.

AEROSPACE ECLIPSING EXPECTATIONS

SOUTH KOREA HAS joined the global race to the moon with the launch of its first lunar orbiter by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX.

Danuri, which translates as “enjoy the Moon”, was carried on a Falcon 9 rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, aiming to enter the moon’s orbit in December.

A highly significant milestone in the history of Korean space exploration, the mission if successful, will cement South Korea as the seventh country in the world to have launched an unmanned probe to the Moon.