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March
UK says Ukraine forces under increasingly severe pressure defending Bakhmut
Written by Nur Yasmin
Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said on Saturday, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city.
Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, while regular Russian army and forces of the Russian private military Wagner group have made further advances into Bakhmut's northern suburbs, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter.
Two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed within the last 36 hours, it said, adding that Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the city are increasingly limited.
One of those bridges connected Bakhmut to the city's last main supply route from the Ukrainian-held town of Chasiv Yar, about 13 km (eight miles) to the west, it said.
Ukraine's military command said Russia was still trying to surround Bakhmut but added that over the past day Ukrainian forces had beaten back Russian attacks in the city.
"The enemy does not cease attempts to surround Bakhmut," it said in its morning briefing note on Saturday, adding that over the past day Ukrainian forces had beaten back Russian attacks in Bakhmut.
Russian artillery pounded the last routes out of Bakhmut on Friday, aiming to complete the encirclement of the besieged city and bring Moscow closer to its first major victory in the war in six months.
The Ukrainian briefing note also said Russian attacks had been foiled in the villages of Ivanivske and Bohdanivka, both of which lie less than eight km (five miles) west of Bakhmut's city centre.
The capture of those villages, which flank the crucial Bakhmut-Chasiv Yar road on either side, would leave the city on the cusp of total Russian encirclement.
The battle for Bakhmut has raged for seven months. A Russian victory in the city, which had a pre-war population of about 70,000 and has been blasted to ruins in the onslaught, would give Moscow the first major prize in a costly winter offensive, after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year.
Russia says it would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of Moscow's most important objectives.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described Bakhmut as a "fortress".
"Nobody will give away Bakhmut. We will fight for as long as we can. We consider Bakhmut our fortress," he told a news conference in Kyiv on Feb. 3. (Reuters)
March
Japan unions ask average 4.5% wage hike, biggest since 1990s
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's trade unions are demanding the biggest wage hike in more than two decades at their spring pay negotiations, a national labour tally showed on Friday, as the government and central bank urge firms to raise workers' wages to support the economy.
A survey of more than 2,000 unions nationwide showed an average 4.49% raise request for this year, first time above 4% since 1998's 4.36%, according to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC). This is also the highest since the mid-1990s, a statement by JTUC shows.
Workers in the world's third-largest economy have been emboldened by policymakers' calls for wage hikes to sustain a frail post-pandemic economic recovery threatened by a four-decade-high inflation.
Despite the higher cost burden, major Japanese firms have promised large pay increases to retain skilled workers amid labour crunch.
World's largest car maker Toyota (7203.T) last week accepted a union demand for the biggest base salary growth in 20 years, followed by rival Honda's (7267.T) agreement with its union requesting a 5% pay increase.
Gaming giant Nintendo (7974.T) said it will lift workers' base pay by 10%, while fashion brand Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing (9983.T) announced an up to 40% raise.
The JTUC preliminary survey showed the average union demand during this year's annual labour talks, called "shunto" in Japanese, was much larger than 2022's 2.97%.
JTUC, commonly known as "Rengo", is the largest labour organisation in the country representing about seven million workers. Although those working at smaller businesses, on temporary terms or without union membership tend to receive a much smaller, if not flat, pay growth, the result of shunto is seen as a harbinger of the country's wage trends.
According to JTUC, its unions and companies last year agreed on average 2.07% wage hikes, higher than in previous two years but still short of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's request for a bigger increase to spur growth.
As of January, Japan Economic Research Center estimated big firms would offer pay hikes of 2.85% on average for the year starting April, which would be the fastest pay rises since 1997.
Bank of Japan officials have said the outcome of the wage hike talks is an important criterion to determine the future course of its ultra-loose monetary policy. (Reuters)
March
Japan pledges financial support to help ASEAN's decarbonisation
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's government pledged financial and technological support to help ASEAN countries accelerate their efforts to decarbonise their economies and combat global climate change, its industry minister said on Saturday.
Energy-poor Japan aims to turn into the world's leading hydrogen economy to reduce dependence on traditional polluting fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
As the chair of the Group of Seven nations (G7) this year, Japan will hold a ministerial meeting on climate, energy and environment in the city of Sapporo on April 15-16, ahead of the main G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21, to promote what it calls realistic energy transition.
"Japan will take a lead in providing generous support in finance, technology and personal resources to help Asia's decarbonisation," Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a ministerial meeting of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC).
The AZEC was proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last year with the aim of sharing the philosophy of promoting decarbonisation in Asian nations and cooperating to push forward energy transition.
At the first AZEC meeting on Saturday in Tokyo, which ministers from several ASEAN countries and Australia are attending, the push for collaboration will include renewable power, natural gas, hydrogen, ammonia among others, Nishimura said.
Japan will stress the importance of investment in gas, liquefied natural gas as well as hydrogen and ammonia during its presidency of the G7 this year but would keep it clean to meet 2050 carbon neutral goal, a source said this week. (Reuters)
March
Philippines says Chinese navy ship spotted near disputed island
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines said on Saturday it had spotted a Chinese navy ship and dozens of militia vessels around a contested Philippine-occupied island in the South China Sea, as territorial tensions mount in the area.
The Philippine Coast Guard said 42 vessels believed to be crewed by Chinese maritime militia personnel were seen in the vicinity of Thitu island, while a Chinese navy vessel and coast guard ship were observed "slowly loitering" in the surrounding waters.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the assertion.
Thitu in the Spratly island chain is Manila's biggest and most strategically important outpost in the South China Sea, a body of water largely claimed by Beijing where several countries have conflicting territorial claims.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said two weeks ago the Philippines "will not lose an inch" of territory as the Southeast Asian protested China's "aggressive activities" in the sea.
Locally known as Pag-asa, Thitu lies about 300 miles (480 km) west of the western Philippine province of Palawan. Home to over 400 people, including military and law enforcement personnel, the island is used by Manila to maintain its territorial claim.
Experts say China's fishing fleet and coast guard are central to its strategic ambitions in the South China Sea, maintaining a constant presence that complicates fishing and offshore energy activities by other coastal states.
"Their continuing unauthorised presence is clearly inconsistent with the right of innocent passage and a blatant violation of the Philippines' territorial integrity," the coast guard said in a statement.
Marcos last month summoned the Chinese ambassador to complain about the intensity and frequency of China's actions in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has filed 77 complaints against China's activities in the sea, including a claim that a Chinese coast guard ship on Feb. 6 directed a "military-grade laser" at one a Philippine coast guard ship on a supply mission.
China claims sovereignty over the Spratlys, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have competing claims for some or all of the islands. (Reuters)
March
North Korea says US causing international arms control collapse
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it said was the collapse of international arms control systems and said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons were a just response to ensure the balance of power in the region.
"The Korean peninsula is turning into the world's biggest powderkeg and war practice field due to a military expansion scheme led by the United States and its followers," its foreign ministry said in a commentary carried by state news agency KCNA.
Recent moves by South Korea and Japan showed that a military build-up by the United States and its followers was crossing the danger line and this could not be tolerated, it added.
The comments follow the United States and South Korea's announcement on Friday that they plan to conduct large-scale military exercises from March 13-23 to strengthen the allies' combined defensive posture, including focusing on what they called North Korean aggression.
North Korea says such joint military exercises are proof that the United States and its allies are hostile and bent on regime change in the North. (Reuters)
March
China parliament to vote on state reform plan, new Cabinet
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's legislature will vote in the coming days on a plan to reform institutions under the State Council, or Cabinet, and decide on a new Cabinet line-up for the next five years, including a new premier, an agenda showed on Saturday.
The annual National People's Congress (NPC) will also review a series of reports including the current premier's government work report, parliament spokesman Wang Chao told a news conference.
Draft amendments to the country's Legislative Law - which governs how laws are enacted - are also on the agenda of the meeting that is due to start on Sunday.
In the latter half of the NPC, which runs until March 13, the nearly 3,000 members of the largely rubber-stamp parliament will elect and endorse a new line-up of top government officials. Xi Jinping is widely expected to secure his third five-year term as president when lawmakers vote on March 10.
He renewed calls this week for the "intensive" reorganisation of state and Communist Party entities, adding that part of the reform plan pertaining to state institutions would be presented before parliament.
Lawmakers are also due to vote on the State Council's institution reform plan on March 10.
The call for institutional reforms comes after China's economy grew 3% last year - one of its feeblest rates in nearly half a century - weakened by strict COVID-19 curbs championed by Xi that were lifted in December.
On Sunday, the government work report due to be delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the start of parliament will unveil the official 2023 economic growth target, among many other social and economic objectives.
The gross domestic product (GDP) target could be as high as 6%, compared with a 4.5%-5.5% range proposed in November, sources told Reuters this week.
NEW PREMIER
A new premier for the next five years will be decided by parliament on March 11. A day later, it will decide on a new batch of vice premiers, state councillors, ministers as well as the governor of the People's Bank of China.
Among the amendments to China's Legislative Law set to be reviewed at the meeting is a proposal that would allow the NPC Standing Committee to pass laws in the event of an "emergency" after a single review.
The committee, which enacts and amends laws when parliament is not in session, voted in June 2020 to adopt landmark laws on national security in Hong Kong. That legislation was put to the vote after two rounds of deliberation.
Lawmakers will vote on the draft amendments to the Legislative Law on March 13. (Reuters)
March
Flooding in southern Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes
Written by Nur Yasmin
Flooding resulting from days of torrential rain has forced almost 40,000 people to flee their homes in Malaysia's southern Johor state, bordering Singapore, and at least four people have died during the past week, officials said on Saturday.
"We used to always prepare for the rainy season in November and December," Mohd Noor Saad, a 57-year-old resident in the town of Yong Peng, in Johor's Batu Pahat district told Reuters.
"Each household had a boat, but now with the unpredictable weather, it seems that we are not prepared and it's become chaotic."
Authorities have set up more than 200 relief shelters for people displaced by the floods, the national disaster management agency said.
Floods in Malaysia are common during the annual monsoon season between October and March, but the downpour this week left many Johor residents scrambling to find shelter.
Carrying belongings out of her house in thigh-high water, cafe worker Kabibah Siam, 54, said she was resigned to fending for herself during the floods.
"What can we do? We cannot complain about our fate because everyone is in the same boat here," she said.
While Johor was worst-hit, there was flooding in other states too that displaced hundreds of people.
The meteorological department warned of more rain in coming days, mostly in the southern states. (reuters)
March
Malaysia's Anwar says ASEAN must be tougher in bid to resolve Myanmar crisis
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during a visit to the Philippines that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must prove it is "relevant" in helping to resolve the crisis in Myanmar.
In a pre-recorded interview with Philippine news channel ANC aired on Friday, Anwar said that ASEAN, which is leading diplomatic efforts to bring peace, needed to be more assertive and noted that his country was shouldering 200,000 displaced people from Myanmar.
"We can't see this as a purely internal issue, so I have appealed to friends in ASEAN to say, look we have to be tougher," Anwar said. "If necessary engage with the armed forces of this country because sometimes the military junta do not understand the civilian narrative."
Myanmar has been beset by social, political and economic chaos since its military overthrew an elected government in 2021.
Human rights groups and the United Nations have accused Myanmar's military of carrying out atrocities as part of a crackdown on its opponents. The junta labels its opponents "terrorists" seeking to destroy the country.
"The atrocities, we cannot condone," Anwar said. "We have to find an amicable solution which is difficult. We have tried all. ASEAN has to prove it is relevant and able to ease some of problems."
Some members of ASEAN, which has a long-held principle of staying out of its members' sovereign affairs, have grown increasingly frustrated at the junta's failure to honour a peace plan agreed with the generals shortly after the coup.
While the 10-member bloc has barred Myanmar's generals from attending its high-level meetings, Malaysia, a vocal critic of the junta, has called for tougher action. Myanmar's military rulers have reacted angrily to what they call interference by ASEAN members. (Reuters)
March
Pakistani rupee strengthens 2.38% versus dollar in interbank market
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Pakistani rupee on Friday strengthened 2.38% in interbank closing at 278.46 rupees against the dollar, a day after the central bank raised its policy interest rate by 300 basis points (bps) to 20%, trading data showed.
The rupee , which fell more than 6% on Thursday, was trading at 275.5 against the dollar during the day, up nearly 3.5%, after the opening session.
"The rupee may have appreciated over the governors statement in the analyst meeting where he says the IMF has not asked to match the border rate," says Mustafa Pasha, chief investment officer at Lakson Investments.
Pasha added that expectations of reaching a staff level agreement soon have shot up now that the government has floated the currency, withdrawn farmer/export subsidies, and imposed electricity surcharges.
He says, "On the other hand, it could be that the SBP has done a soft intervention or overseas Pakistanis decided to remit after seeing the rupee touch 286 against the dollar."
The value of the local currency has been depreciating amid delays in a funding deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial for the South Asian's broken economy faced with a balance-of-payment crisis.
The sides have been negotiating a policy framework since the start of last month to agree on measures to bridge the fiscal deficit ahead of an annual budget around June.
A staff-level agreement is yet to be signed, which finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday should be done by next week.
If negotiations succeed, the IMF will issue over $1 billion to Pakistan, which is critical to unlock other bilateral and multilateral funding.
A market-based currency exchange is one of several conditions the IMF has made to approve the funding.
Moody's downgraded the crisis struck country unsecured debt ratings to ‘’Caa3’ from ‘Caa1’ on Wednesday. On Friday five Pakistani banks: Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd. (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd. (UBL), were also downgraded to Caa3 from Caa1. (Reuters)
March
Philippines scrambles to contain oil spill and locate sunken fuel tanker
Written by Nur Yasmin
Environment and disaster authorities in the Philippines rushed to contain an oil spill on Friday from a sunken fuel tanker that has reached coastal towns on a large central island, warning of dangers to marine ecosystems if more oil leaks.
The tanker, MT Princess Empress, was still missing on Friday after sinking en route to Iloilo province carrying about 800,000 litres (211,338 gallons) of industrial fuel oil.
The vessel encountered engine trouble on Tuesday due to overheating and drifted due to rough sea conditions, according to the coast guard. It was not immediately clear what caused it to sink but all 20 crew were rescued before it went down.
Carlos Primo David, undersecretary at the environment ministry, said it was crucial authorities find the tanker soon as there could still be a large volume of oil inside.
"If we can recover it that will help us a lot in containing the spill," he said in a media briefing.
"Bear in mind that the cleanup will be more difficult if more oil reaches coastal areas."
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said a rapid assessment was being undertaken of coastal and marine habitats that could be impacted.
At risk of damage was approximately 591 hectares of coral reefs, 1,626 hectares of mangroves and 362 hectares of seagrass, the ministry said.
"The possible contamination might actually affect the viability of these systems," Loyzaga warned in a recorded message on Thursday.
The disaster agency in a statement said the oil spill had reached coastal areas of several municipalities in Oriental Mindoro, the eastern half of Mindoro island.
Advocacy group Earth Island Institute PH called it "a potential environmental disaster", likening it to a 2006 incident when a tanker carrying 2.1 million litres of bunker fuel ran aground in central Philippines. (Reuters)