Briefly

SINGAPORE

World Economic Forum cancels 2021 meeting

The World Economic Forum has canceled its annual meeting－the blue-ribbon event for the global elite to discuss the world's problems－due to be held in Singapore this year, the organizers said on Monday. The COVID-19 pandemic meant it was not possible to hold such a large event as planned on Aug 17-20, they said in a statement. The event, which attracts VIPs from the worlds of politics and business, has been held since 1971.

GREENLAND

Changing snowfall making island darker

Greenland is becoming darker and warmer due to a weather pattern that is pushing fresh snowfall away from its ice sheet, a study said on Monday. A reduction in the amount of fresh, light-colored snow leaves more old and dark snow exposed on the surface－which in turn causes the ice sheet to absorb more heat and melt faster. Erich Osterberg, an associate professor of Earth sciences at Dartmouth College, attributed the decrease in snowfall to a weather phenomenon called "atmospheric blocking" in which persistent high-pressure systems hover over the ice sheet for weeks at a time.

UNITED STATES

Pressure pushes Biden to share jabs

The United States will share 20 million more doses of its COVID-19 vaccines with the rest of the world by the end of June, said US President Joe Biden on Monday. The announcement came under mounting international pressure that wealthy nations which have stockpiled vaccines far more than they need should share more doses with countries struggling with the pandemic. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday repeated his calls for manufacturers and high-income countries to share their doses with COVAX.

TURKEY

Erdogan's top election rival forms new party

A top rival of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2018 election announced on Tuesday that he had formed a new party that he plans to lead in the next campaign. Muharrem Ince represented the main opposition Republican People's Party when he picked up 30.6 percent of the vote against Erdogan's 52.6 in Turkey's last national polls. Ince has done little to hide his political ambitions since his strong performance in 2018. He called his new party Memleket Partisi, or Homeland Party. The next presidential election is expected to be held in June 2023.

Agencies - Xinhua