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This photo taken by the Vatican Media on Oct 29, 2021 shows Pope Francis and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in exchanging gifts during a private audience at The Vatican, ahead of an upcoming G20 summit. (Photo: Handout / AFP / VATICAN MEDIA) - 

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Pope Francis on Friday (Oct 29), giving him a cross made from barbed wire from the peninsula's demilitarised zone and again urging him to visit North Korea.

Moon, who is Catholic, was in Rome for the G20 summit of world leaders. He held private talks with the Pope for about 25 minutes, the Vatican said.

Moon's office said the president, who will leave office in May, had told Pope Francis that a papal visit to Pyongyang would help revive the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

"If you send me an invitation, I will gladly go to help you, for the sake of peace. Aren't you brothers who speak the same language? I'm willing to go," it quoted the pope as saying.

The Vatican said in a statement that the two sides discussed "the promotion of dialogue and reconciliation between Koreans" and the hope that "joint effort and goodwill may favour peace and development in the Korean peninsula, supported by solidarity and by fraternity".

When he met the Pope in 2018, Moon relayed a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the pontiff to visit North Korea.

Vatican officials said at the time that the Pope, who has made many appeals for rapprochement between the two Koreas, would consider such a trip under certain conditions if it could help the cause of peace.

North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion as long as it does not undermine the state.

But beyond a handful of state-controlled places of worship - including a Catholic church in the capital Pyongyang - no open religious activity is allowed and the authorities have repeatedly jailed foreign missionaries.

There is little information on how many of North Korea's citizens are Catholic, or how they practice their faith.

Negotiations between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes have been stalled amid efforts by both Koreas to develop increasingly sophisticated weapons.

North Korea last week confirmed it test-fired a new, smaller ballistic missile from a submarine//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman arrives at the opening session of the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 26, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo - 

Saudi Arabia intends to bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Friday (Oct 29), part of the de facto ruler's push to transform the kingdom's economy and diversify it away from oil.

The Saudi capital Riyadh has submitted a formal request to host Expo 2030 under the theme "The era of change: Leading the planet to a foresighted tomorrow", a statement said.

Gulf neighbour and regional business hub the United Arab Emirates, which is increasingly in economic competition with Saudi Arabia, is currently hosting the Expo 2020 world fair, which was delayed for a year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UAE Vice President and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum tweeted his support for the Saudi bid, saying "We will give our brothers access to the knowledge and experience we gained throughout seven years of preparation for the Expo".

The bid, which was submitted to the expo organising body the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), will be led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

Prince Mohammed said the 2030 Expo in Riyadh would coincide with the culmination of the kingdom's economic reform program known as Vision 2030, and allow the kingdom to share lessons from that programme//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds at the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins//File Photo - 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (Oct 29) to do more to reduce his country's reliance on coal and to bring forward its target date for peak CO2 emissions to try to better tackle climate change.

China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is crucial to the success of COP26, but many scientists and climate experts fear that its current climate plans are too weak and Johnson is keen to persuade Beijing to go further.

On Thursday, Beijing submitted updated 'nationally determined contributions' (NDCs) to fight climate change, formally boosting headline emission-cutting pledges but offering nothing new ahead of the United Nations COP26 climate talks hosted by Johnson.

The submission documents, published on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), showed that China aims to see its carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and to become carbon neutral before 2060.

Referring to a conversation earlier on Friday, Johnson told reporters that he raised "a couple of points. First of all about the moment for peaking ... they have said before 2030 and so I pushed a bit on that, that 2025 would be better than 2030, and I wouldn't say he committed on that."

"On the other point where I was evangelical again was the potential to move away from coal," he said, adding he had described how quickly Britain had moved away from coal.

Johnson is keen to make COP26 a success, but with the UN Environment Programme saying the world is on course to warm around 2.7C with hugely destructive consequences, some critics doubt whether the British leader can win over China and other big emitters and "keep 1.5 alive".

The landmark 2015 Paris agreement committed signatories to keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Using football as a metaphor, Johnson said: "If this was half time I would say we're about 5-1 down ... and we've got a long way to go."

"But we can do it. We have the ability to equalise, to save the position and to come back."//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A view of deserted roads during a lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia June 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng - 

Malaysia announced an expanded budget on Friday (Oct 29) aimed at jump-starting its pandemic-battered economy in 2022, according to the government's fiscal and economic outlook reports laying out the budgetary details.

Fresh COVID-19 lockdowns have dampened recovery, with the Southeast Asian country slashing its 2021 growth outlook twice to 3 per cent to 4 per cent this year, but a ramped-up vaccination drive and gradual reopening have boosted hopes of a quick turnaround.

The budget is also expected to set the stage for a general election that could be called by the middle of next year. Malaysia's next polls are due by 2023.

The government plans to spend RM332.1 billion (US$80.06 billion) in 2022, up from RM320.6 billion this year, despite lower-than-expected revenue and a widening deficit in 2021, one of the reports said.

"In the past 19 months or so, the government has repeatedly proven that despite our tight fiscal space, we delivered as best as we could," Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in his foreword to the government's 2022 fiscal outlook report released ahead of the budget.

"However, when it comes to strengthening our fiscal position, ultimately it depends on a sustained economic recovery."

Malaysia has rolled out RM530 billion worth of stimulus packages to soften the pandemic's blow, as coronavirus curbs weighed on revenue - targeted to come in at RM221 billion this year, 6.7 per cent short of initial estimates.

But it expects economic growth to accelerate to between 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent next year, driven by further reopening of the economy and improved external demand, the report showed.

Its fiscal deficit is also expected to moderate to 6 per cent in 2022, after climbing to 6.5 per cent this year.

Next year's spending increase includes a hefty 21.9 per cent jump in development expenditure, to RM75.6 billion, while operating expenses will rise 6.3 per cent to RM233.5 billion.

Revenue is seen expanding 5.9 per cent to RM234 billion ringgit in 2022, including RM25 billion in dividends from state energy firm Petronas, unchanged from the 2021 dividends.

In his budget speech in the parliament, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the 2022 budget is the largest ever. 

The economic growth of between 5.5 and 6.5 per cent is based on strong economic fundamentals and diversified economic structure, he said. 

“However, this performance also depends on other factors, such as the success of pandemic control, the effectiveness of the implementation of vaccination programmes as well as the strength of the world’s economic and trade prospects,” he said.  

As the country prepares to enter COVID-19 endemic phase, the Health Ministry has been allocated RM32.4 billion for its expenses, the minister added. 

An additional RM4 billion has been set aside to combat COVID-19, with RM2 billion to fund the vaccination programmes and the remaining RM2 billion to enhance the capacity of public health service facilities.

Cabinet ministers welcomed many of the initiatives proposed in the 2022 budget. 

Senior Minister for International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali said several initiatives in the budget could facilitate more foreign investments into Malaysia, especially high-tech multinational corporations. 

He said his ministry expects to attract RM200 billion worth of investments and create an estimated 114,000 jobs. 

"Most of the foreign direct investments (FDI) are expected to come from the manufacturing sector, which is about RM140 billion," said Mr Mohamed Azmin as quoted by the Star.

Senior Minister for Education Radzi Jidin said the RM52.6 billion allocation for the Ministry of Education, which is the largest component in the budget, will be fully utilised to ensure a vibrant educational ecosystem in the country. 

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the RM16 billion allocation for his ministry will be fully utilised for the benefit of the country's defence sector, and to fulfil the aspirations of the "Malaysian Family", especially for the armed forces personnel, veterans and its civilian staff.

He described the budget as "inclusive, all-encompassing" and one that is from the people, by the people and for the people//CNA