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International News (6891)
January
Japan Will Continue to Monitor COVID Situation in China, Govt Says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in China and deal "flexibly" with border control measures, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.
The comment came a day after the Chinese embassy in Japan said it had resumed the issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens travelling to the country.
China had stopped issuing visas for Japanese nationals earlier this month after Japan toughened COVID-19 border control rules for travellers coming directly from China. (Reuters)
January
South Korea Drops Indoor Anti-COVID Mask Mandate, Infection Fears Linger
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea on Monday scrapped a face mask mandate for most indoor public places in a major step to loosen COVID-19 rules, but many residents opted to keep wearing coverings due to lingering concerns over infections.
The lifting of the face-covering rules in the majority of indoor locations is South Korea's latest step in easing COVID rules as new cases show signs of a slowdown. People are still required to wear the masks in public transport settings and in medical facilities.
Most restaurant owners and visitors in Seoul's bustling Gwanghwamun district, where government and corporate buildings are located, welcomed the new policy. But many citizens also said they will still wear masks with the pandemic not fully over.
"I'd thought it was kind of meaningless we had to put the masks on just to enter and leave a restaurant, so it's nice that has changed now," said Yoon Seok-jun, a 30-year-old office worker at Gwanghwamun.
Kim Jae-jin, 28, also said he was glad he could now work out at a gym without wearing a face mask. Still, he said he will continue putting on the coverings in most public facilities.
"It would be much more comfortable to run on treadmill but I am still concerned about a new respiratory disease after COVID," said Kim, an office worker.
South Korean health authorities have warned the easing of mask rules could result in a temporary surge in new cases, urging people to stay vigilant when in high-risk areas, especially for those more vulnerable to infections.
"COVID-19 isn't over yet and it looks like masks do protect me from getting cold and other diseases, so I think I'll wear them for the time being," Jeong Hye-won, a 28-year-old Seoul office worker said.
The easing of rules come about three years after South Korea reported its first outbreak of COVID infection on Jan. 20, 2020.
The country has since scrapped most of its pandemic-related precautions, but it maintains a seven-day isolation rule for those testing positive for COVID. (reuters)
January
Kiribati to Return to Pacific Islands Regional Group, Ending Rift
Written by Nur Yasmin
The remote atoll nation of Kiribati said on Monday it would rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum, ending a split that had threatened unity at a time of increased superpower tensions in the strategically-located region.
The decision followed the "fruitful, positive, and successful bilateral meeting" with Fiji's new Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, who travelled to Kiribati on Jan. 20, said a statement posted to the Facebook account of President Taneti Maamau.
The statement said the Kiribati government had formally stated its "positive endorsement to rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum this year 2023".
Kiribati, which is 3,000 kms (1,860 miles) southwest of the U.S. state of Hawaii, switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019.
In July, Kiribati abruptly withdrew from the first in-person meeting of Pacific Island Forum leaders to be held since the pandemic closed borders, and where United States vice president Kamala Harris pledged to triple aid to the region and sought closer maritime surveillance cooperation.
Fiji, the forum's chair, has been pivotal to the region's response to competition between China and the United States, and Rabuka made his first international visit to Kiribati.
Rabuka's coalition government narrowly won a general election in December, the first transition of power in Fiji in 16 years, but has since been warned by Fiji's military against making "sweeping changes".
Fiji's President Wiliame Katonivere on Monday evening announced that Fiji's Chief Justice Kamal Kumar had been suspended on Rabuka's advice.
The suspension followed complaints of alleged misbehaviour, and was in accordance with the constitution, the statement said.
Fiji's police commissioner and its supervisor of elections were suspended on Friday.
Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Jone Kalouniwai earlier this month warned Rabuka's government to abide by a 2013 constitution which gives the military a key role. (Reuters)
January
Czech President-Elect to Speak to Taiwan President in Diplomatic Breakthrough
Written by Nur Yasmin
Czech President-elect Petr Pavel is due to speak with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday, Pavel's spokeswoman said, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei that is likely to anger China.
Most countries' leaders avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.
In 2016, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Tsai shortly after winning the election, setting off a storm of protest from Beijing.
Pavel's spokeswoman said he and Tsai were expected to speak at 1000 GMT.
Taiwan's presidential office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said on Sunday that Tsai had offered her congratulations to Pavel on his victory.
Pavel, a former army chief and high NATO official who won the Czech presidential election on Saturday, will take office in early March when he will replace current head of state Milos Zeman, who has been known for his pro-Beijing stance.
The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no official diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two sides have moved closer together as Taipei seeks new friends in Eastern and Central Europe.
Pavel has strongly backed Western support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion.
Taipei has sought to bolster its relations with European countries by stressing their shared values of freedom and democracy, especially as Beijing ratchets up military threats to try and force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.
In 2020, the head of the Czech Senate visited Taiwan and declared himself to be Taiwanese in a speech at Taiwan's parliament, channelling the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy's defiance of communism in Berlin in 1963. (Reuters)
January
India's Gandhi Ends 135-day March to Revive Congress Party in Snowy Kashmir
Written by Nur Yasmin
Several hundred people gathered as snow fell in Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Monday to mark the end of Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi's foot march that he began at the southern tip of the country 135 days ago.
The "Bharat Jodo Yatra", or Unite India March, was aimed at boosting the 52-year-old's popularity but Congress still faces an uphill battle against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that appears poised to sweep the general election due next year.
"I didn't do the Yatra for myself or Congress," said Gandhi, who swapped the t-shirt that he had worn for the majority of the march for a woollen Kashmiri gown to ward off the cold.
"The aim is to stand against an ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of the country," he said, referring to the BJP.
Leaders from half a dozen opposition parties attended the rally, the largest opposition gathering in India's erstwhile Muslim-majority state that Modi's government reorganised into two federally administered territories in August 2019.
"All secular parties must come together to liberate the country from BJP," D. Raja, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, said at the rally.
Several other opposition leaders failed to make it to the rally because flights into Srinagar's airport were cancelled due to the heavy snow.
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has controlled the Congress party for decades but has also overseen its recent decline. Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the last election.
Security arrangements had been reinforced in Kashmir ahead of the rally, with armed police sealing off all roads leading to the cricket stadium where the rally was held.
Sameer Ahmad, 26 and without a job, said he travelled from Pulwama, around 30 km away, to attend the rally, at times trudging through snow.
"I am not from the Congress party but want to support the cause Gandhi stands for," Ahmad said. (Reuters)
January
Suicide Bombing at Mosque in Pakistan Kills 32, Targeted Police
Written by Nur Yasmin
A suicide bombing at a crowded mosque in Pakistan's Peshawar killed at least 32 people on Monday, the latest attack targeting police in this northwestern city where Islamist militants remain active.
Hospital officials said at least 147 people were wounded, with many of them in critical condition.
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif called the blast a suicide attack. There were at least 260 people in the mosque, police official Sikandar Khan added.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which ripped through the mosque during noon prayers, causing a wall to collapse on top of worshippers. The building is located inside a highly fortified compound that includes the headquarters of the provincial police force and a counter-terrorism department.
"We're getting that the terrorist was standing in the first row," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo TV.
Footage from government broadcaster PTV showed police and residents scrambling to remove debris from the blast site and carrying wounded people on their shoulders.
The attack was the city's worst since March last year, when a suicide bombing at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers killed at least 58 people and injured nearly 200. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for that bombing.
Peshwar, which sits at the edge of Pakistan's tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, is frequently targeted by militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban.
The group, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an umbrella of Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups that want to overthrow the government and replace it with their own brand of Islamic governance.
The TTP has stepped up attacks since it ended a so-called peace deal last year with the Pakistani government, which was facilitated by Afghan Taliban.
TTP has staged frequent attacks targeting police in the last few months. In December, Islamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern and took hostages to negotiate with government authorities. (Reuters)
January
Odds 'Very High' of U.S. Military Conflict with China, Top Republican Says
Written by Nur Yasmin
A top Republican in the U.S. Congress said on Sunday the odds of conflict with China over Taiwan "are very high," after a U.S. general caused consternation with a memo that warned the United States would fight China in the next two years.
In a memo dated Feb. 1 but released on Friday, General Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, wrote to the leadership of its roughly 110,000 members saying, "My gut tells me we will fight in 2025."
"I hope he is wrong ... I think he is right though," Mike McCaul, the new chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, told Fox News Sunday.
The general's views do not represent the Pentagon but show concern at the highest levels of the U.S. military over a possible attempt by China to exert control over Taiwan, which China claims as a territory.
Both the United States and Taiwan will hold presidential elections in 2024, potentially creating an opportunity for China to take military action, Minihan wrote.
McCaul said that if China failed to take control of Taiwan bloodlessly then "they are going to look at a military invasion in my judgment. We have to be prepared for this."
He accused the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden of projecting weakness, after the bungled pullout from Afghanistan, that could make war with China more likely.
"The odds are very high that we could see a conflict with China and Taiwan and the Indo Pacific," McCaul said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month he seriously doubted that ramped up Chinese military activities near the Taiwan Strait were a sign of an imminent invasion of the island by Beijing.
On Saturday, a Pentagon official said the general's comments were "not representative of the department's view on China." (Reuters)
January
At Least 10 Children Killed in Pakistan as Boat Capsizes
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least 10 children were killed on Sunday when a boat carrying religious school students capsized in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
Around eight students were still missing while seven injured had been taken to hospital, according to local officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the accident took place.
Kohat's district commissioner Mahmood Aslam said around 50 students from a local religious school, had gathered near Tanda lake for a picnic. Twenty-five had ventured out on the water - which was closed by authorities for recreational trips - on a boat that capsized, he said.
The pupils who had died were aged between seven and 12 years old, according to a list shared with Reuters by the commissioner.
He said Pakistani military divers were helping with the rescue and recovery efforts. Video footage by local broadcasters and on social media showed rescuers in the water.
The accident came the same day as a bus accident in southern Pakistan that killed more than 40 people. (Reuters)
January
China Says It Resumes Issuing Ordinary Visas for Japanese Citizens
Written by Nur Yasmin
China has resumed the issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens travelling to the country, the Chinese embassy in Japan said on Sunday, in a move that could ease a diplomatic row.
Effective on Sunday, the embassy and Chinese consulates in Japan will resume the examination and issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens to China, the embassy said in a statement.
China this month stopped issuing visas for Japanese nationals after Japan toughened COVID-19 border control rules for travellers coming directly from China.
Japan lodged a protest to China over the suspension of visas for Japanese citizens, asking Beijing to reverse the action. (Reuters)
January
Maldives President Solih Wins Presidential Primary, Party Says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) presidential primary election, the first time an incumbent has faced a primary challenge, according to preliminary results on Sunday.
But his challenger, former President Mohamed Nasheed has not accepted the results reported by the party. An official from his campaign said on Saturday the results were questionable, as voter tallies in some ballot stations did not match total eligible voters.
Nasheed's supporters and representatives have alleged voter fraud and vote rigging in the contentious election in the archipelago off India and Sri Lanka.
Solih secured 61% of the vote with 24,566 ballots, beating Nasheed with 15,641, the party said. Both had made whirlwind campaign tours across the country over the past month.
More than 40,000 MDP members, or 71%, voted, the party said.
Solih supporters gathered in the capital Male to celebrate after local media projected his victory on Saturday. Meeting them at the main MDP rally centre, Solih called on the members to unite for the upcoming presidential election.
"Now our competitive nature should be put behind us. That is over. Now we have to unite to ensure MDP wins the presidential election," he said.
A few scuffles broke out during the voting in some islands, with police arresting three men for disrupting ballot activities. They were arrested for vandalising ballot boxes, a police spokesperson said.
Another contentious issue was the removal of several thousand members from MDP's registry, rendering them ineligible to vote in the primary. Nasheed's campaign has said the move affected mostly the ex-president's supporters.
MDP has countered that the removals reflected attempts to bring the party's membership registry in line with the official registry maintained by the Elections Commission. MDP said members who were removed had the opportunity to rejoin the party and were given time to do so. (Reuters)