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January
Thousands in Afghanistan Protest Koran-Burning Incident in Sweden
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thousands of Afghans held protests on Friday to express anger after a far-right politician publicly set fire to the Koran in Sweden last week.
On Saturday, the anti-immigrant politician from the far-right fringe burned a copy of the holy Muslim book during a protest near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.
"Today, Kabul residents in different parts of the city held protests," Kabul's police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said on Friday afternoon.
In the northern province of Badakshan, a spokesperson for the provincial government said thousands had gathered after Friday prayers to protest.
"They were saying 'Death to Sweden, U.S.A and U.N'.," said Mahzudden Ahmadi. "They said such actions shouldn't be repeated, also they asked Islamic Emirate to have a strong position against such actions," he added, referring to the Taliban administration.
Earlier in the week, the Taliban-run Afghan foreign ministry had called on the Swedish government to punish the individual and to prevent any similar incidents taking place.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling. The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations has also condemned the incident and a U.S. State Department spokesperson said it was a "deeply disrespectful act."
The Koran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line, during protests in Stockholm against Turkey and Sweden's bid to join NATO. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has held a number of demonstrations in the past where he has burned the Koran.
In 2011, violent protests took place in Afghanistan over the burning of a Koran by a radical fundamentalist Christian in the United States. Protesters over-ran a U.N. mission in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and killed seven foreign staff. Demonstrations gripped the country for days, and dozens of protesters and police were killed and wounded. (reuters)
January
Hungary Will Veto EU Sanctions on Russian Nuclear Energy, PM Orban Says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Hungary will veto any European Union sanctions against Russia affecting nuclear energy, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday.
Ukraine has called on the 27-nation EU to include Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom in sanctions but Hungary, which has a Russian-built nuclear plant it plans to expand with Rosatom, has blocked that. read more
Orban reiterated in an interview that sanctions on nuclear energy "must obviously be vetoed".
"We will not allow the plan to include nuclear energy into the sanctions be implemented," the Hungarian premier said. "This is out of the question."
EU-member Hungary has repeatedly criticised EU sanctions on Russia over its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, saying they failed to weaken Russia meaningfully, while they risk destroying the European economy.
The West has not imposed sanctions on Rosatom since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant has four small Russian-built VVER 440 reactors with a combined capacity of about 2,000 megawatts, which started operating between 1982 and 1987.
It generates about half its power and the plant gets its nuclear fuel from Russia.
Under a deal signed in 2014 with Russia, Hungary aims to expand the Paks plant with two Russian-made VVER reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each. (Reuters)
January
In Beijing's Backyard, U.S. Demonstrates its Military Might
Written by Nur Yasmin
Over a few hours under grey skies, dozens of combat planes and helicopters roar on and off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Nimitz, in a demonstration of U.S. military power in some of the world's most hotly contested waters.
MH-60 Seahawk helicopters and F/A-18 Hornet jets bearing pilot call signs like "Fozzie Bear", "Pig Sweat" and "Bongoo" emit deafening screams as they land in the drizzle on the Nimitz, which is leading a carrier strike group that entered the South China Sea two weeks ago.
The group's commander, Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney, said the tour was part of a U.S. commitment to uphold freedom of passage in the waters and airspace of a region vital to global trade.
"We are going to sail, fly and operate wherever international norms and rules allow. We're going to do that safely and we're going to be resolute about that," Sweeney told Reuters on Friday.
"It's really just about sailing and operating obviously with our allies and partners in the area and assuring them of free and open commerce and trade in the Indo-Pacific."
A U.S. presence in the South China Sea, a conduit for about $3.4 trillion of annual trade, has been welcomed by allies like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia, but it continues to rile rival China, which sees the exercises as provocations in its backyard.
China claims historic jurisdiction over almost the entire South China Sea, which includes the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Beijing has been conducting regular exercises too and maintains a large presence of coast guard and fishing vessels far off its mainland - a source of frequent tension with its neighbours.
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group 11 includes the guided-missile cruiser Bunker Hill and the guided-missile destroyers Decatur, Wayne E. Meyer and Chung-Hoon. The Chung-Hoon on Jan. 5 sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, irking China.
That came two weeks after a Chinese navy J-11 fighter jet caused alarm when it came within 10 feet (3 metres) of a U.S. Air Force plane over the South China Sea.
Sweeney said it was crucial for international rules to be followed and said the U.S. presence in the South China Sea demonstrated its commitment to its regional allies.
"We've operated in the same body of water as the Chinese or the Singaporean navy or the Filipino navy since we've arrived and it's all been safe and professional," he said.
"We're going to sail, fly and operate wherever international waters allow us to, so we're not going anywhere." (Reuters)
January
Norway Finds 'Substantial' Mineral Resources on its Seabed
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Norwegian study has found a "substantial" amount of metals and minerals ranging from copper to rare earth metals on the seabed of its extended continental shelf, authorities said on Friday in their first official estimates.
The Nordic country, a major oil and gas exporter, is considering whether to open its offshore areas to deep-sea mining, a process that requires parliament's approval and has sparked environmental concerns.
"Of the metals found on the seabed in the study area, magnesium, niobium, cobalt and rare earth minerals are found on the European Commission's list of critical minerals," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), which conducted the study, said in a statement.
The resources estimate, covering remote areas in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea, showed there were 38 million tonnes of copper, almost twice the volume mined globally each year, and 45 million tonnes of zinc accumulated in polymetallic sulphides.
The sulphides, or "black smokers", are found along the mid-ocean ridge, where magma from the Earth's mantle reaches the sea floor, at depths of around 3,000 metres (9,842 feet).
About 24 million tonnes of magnesium and 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt are estimated to be in manganese crusts grown on bedrock over millions of years, as well as 1.7 million tonnes of cerium, a rare earth metal used in alloys.
The manganese crusts are also estimated to contain other rare earth metals, such as neodymium, yttrium and dysprosium.
"Costly, rare minerals such as neodymium and dysprosium are extremely important for magnets in wind turbines and the engines in electric vehicles", the NPD said.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Environmental groups have called on Norway to postpone its seabed mineral exploration until more studies are conducted to understand the organisms living on the seabed and the impact of mining on them.
There is "a great lack of knowledge" of deep oceans, where new and undiscovered species are potentially to be found, Norway's Institute of Marine Research said in a consultation letter.
The NPD said its estimates showed resources "in place", and further studies were needed to establish how much of those could be recovered with acceptable environmental impact. (Reuters)
January
Nepal Deputy PM Loses Job After Top Court Rules His ID Invalid
Written by Nur Yasmin
Nepal's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that deputy prime minister Rabi Lamichhane had stood for election with invalid citizenship papers, annulling his status as a lawmaker and effectively removing him from office.
Lamichhane became deputy prime minister for home affairs - heading the ministry that oversees identity cards - in a seven-party alliance that took power last month.
In its ruling on Friday, a five-member constitutional bench of the top court said the 48-year-old had contested November elections on an invalid citizenship certificate after abandoning his U.S. citizenship.
"He loses his ministerial position and there will be a by-election in his constituency," Lamichhane’s lawyer Sunil Pokhrel told Reuters.
The departure of the minister was unlikely to affect the future of the ruling alliance, political analyst Krishna Khanal said.
Lamichhane, who hosted a popular television show before entering politics, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Pokhrel said Lamichhane will now seek to get a regular citizenship card and contest the by-election from the same constituency in south Nepal. (Reuters)
January
Zelenskiy's Party Purges Lawmaker For Wartime Trip to Thailand
Written by Nur Yasmin
Ukraine's ruling party has kicked out a lawmaker from its parliamentary faction after reports he had travelled to Thailand during Ukraine's grinding war with Russia sparked a public outcry.
Party spokesperson Yulia Paliychuk said on Friday that Mykola Tyshchenko was expelled from Servant of the People's voting bloc after an announcement appeared briefly on the website of the Ukrainian embassy in Thailand saying Tyshchenko would meet members of the Ukrainian diaspora at a hotel there.
Tyshchenko said on Facebook he had been on a business trip in Asia with approval of party leaders, "acting exclusively in the interests of Ukraine". Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said he had approved no such trip.
The winter visit to sun-soaked Southeast Asia comes amid a crackdown by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy aimed at projecting an image of greater accountability for officials.
More than a dozen senior officials were fired or resigned this week, including a deputy prosecutor who had come under fire in the press for a holiday in Spain, in the biggest shakeup of the Kyiv leadership since the war began.
Zelenskiy has announced a ban this week on private trips abroad by officials. Most Ukrainian men aged 18-60 have already been barred from leaving the country under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Februrary last year. (Reuters)
January
China Domestic Tourism Picks Up Over Lunar New Year as COVID Curbs End
Written by Nur Yasmin
Almost a quarter more domestic Chinese tourism trips have been made during this year's Lunar New Year holiday, while cross-border travel more than doubled in the first six days of the week-long break following the end of strict COVID-19 curbs.
A total of 308 million tourism trips within China have been made during the current holiday period, up 23.1% from 2022's Lunar New Year break and marking a recovery to 88.6% of the number in 2019, data from the culture and tourism ministry showed on Friday.
China in December began dismantling its stringent zero-COVID measures after nearly three years that saw intermittent citywide lockdowns, slower economic growth and a disrupted tourism and hospitality sector.
Revenue generated from domestic tourism during this year's holiday stands at 375.84 billion yuan ($55.41 billion), or 73.1% of that in 2019, according to the tourism ministry data.
From Jan. 21 to Jan. 26, the first six days of the holiday, a total of 2.39 million trips were made out of and into China, up 123.9% compared with the Jan. 31 to Feb. 5 period last year, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) said on Friday, citing data on trips made by various means of transport.
Authorities in early January ended a requirement that inbound travellers had to undergo hotel quarantine upon arrival, a policy that had crippled international travel.
Despite the jump, international travel over the holiday period has yet to rebound to pre-COVID levels.
During the Lunar New Year holiday in 2019, a total of 12.53 million cross-border trips were made, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Data from the Ctrip travel company showed domestic and international travel orders on its platform for the Lunar New Year holiday both increased to a three-year peak in 2023, with four times as many overall tourism orders this year as last year. (reuters)
January
Japan PM Says Can't Rule Out Return of Deflation Despite Price Spike
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday that a return to deflation in the world's third-largest economy cannot be ruled out, because domestic demand remains weak.
The comment came hours after data showed Tokyo's consumer inflation, a leading indicator of Japanese price trends, hit a 42-year high in January, keeping the central bank under pressure to phase out its easy monetary policy.
However, Kishida told a session of the upper house of parliament that inflation was being driven by high global raw material prices and a weak yen, not by strong domestic demand.
Asked by an opposition lawmaker if the Japanese economy has fully exited from years of deflation, Kishida said: "the state of non-deflation is going on at the moment, but it has not reached a stage where we can judge that the return (to deflation) is unlikely."
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) surprised financial markets last month with a decision to allow 10-year bond yields to move in a slightly wider range at just above or below zero, prompting speculation it was preparing the ground for a gradual exit from its super-loose policy.
But Kishida described the move as an operational tweak to smooth the impact of monetary easing, which is distorting the country's bond markets. The BOJ did not make further changes at its mid-January meeting.
Policymakers are hoping that wage increases this spring will cushion higher living costs and boost consumer spending.
"The government and the BOJ have agreed to closely cooperate towards economic growth in tandem with structural wage hikes and the sustainable, stable achievement of the inflation target," Kishida said, reiterating his previous remarks.
He also refrained from commenting on whether there would be a revision to a joint government and BOJ statement on economic policy that has mandated policymakers to fight deflation since 2013, saying that a new BOJ governor has not yet been chosen.
Kishida on Sunday said he would nominate the next BOJ leader next month before the incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda's second five-year term expires on April 8. (Reuters)
January
India Expects More Clashes With Chinese Troops in Himalayas - Document
Written by Nur Yasmin
A security assessment by Indian police in the Himalayan region of Ladakh says there could be more clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along their contested frontier there as Beijing ramps up military infrastructure in the region.
At least 24 soldiers were killed when the armies of the Asian giants clashed in Ladakh, in the western Himalayas, in 2020 but tensions eased after military and diplomatic talks. A fresh clash erupted between the two sides in the eastern Himalayas in December but there were no deaths.
The assessment is part of a new, confidential research paper by the Ladakh Police that was submitted at a conference of top police officers held from January 20 to 22 and has been reviewed by Reuters.
The report said the assessment was based on intelligence gathered by local police in the border areas and the pattern of India-China military tensions over the years.
The Indian army did not respond to a request for comment but the assessment assumes significance as it was submitted at a conference attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India's defence and foreign ministries also did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
"Given the domestic compulsions ... in China and their economic interests in the region, the PLA would continue to build up its military infrastructure and skirmishes would also get frequent which may or may not follow a pattern,” the paper said, referring to China's People’s Liberation Army.
“If we analyse the pattern of skirmishes and tensions, the intensity has increased since 2013-2014 with an interval of every 2-3 years,” it said.
“With the massive infrastructure build up by PLA on Chinese side both the armies are testing each other’s reaction, strength of artillery and infantry mobilization time”.
The report also said India has been slowly losing ground to China in Ladakh as the border has been pushed inside Indian territory through the creation of buffer zones.
India and China share a 3,500 km (2,100 miles) border that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two sides went to war over it in 1962. (Reuters)
January
Myanmar Army Set To Cement Rule With Tough New Election Rules
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's ruling junta on Friday announced tough requirements for parties to contest an election this year, including a huge increase in their membership, a move that could sideline the military's opponents and cement its grip on politics.
Myanmar's top generals led a coup in February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a quasi-civilian political system that was created by the military, which led to a decade of unprecedented reform.
The country has been in chaos since the putsch, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions re-imposed.
The military has pledged to hold an election in August this year. An announcement in Friday's state media said parties intending to compete nationally must have at least 100,000 members, up from 1,000 previously, and commit to running in the election in the next 60 days or be de-registered as a party.
The rules favour the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a military proxy stacked with former generals, which was trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in 2015 and 2020 elections.
The NLD was decimated by the coup, with thousands of its members arrested or jailed, including Suu Kyi, and many more in hiding.
Richard Horsey, senior adviser to the International Crisis Group, who was based in Myanmar for 15 years, said the rules aimed to restore a political system the military can control.
"Parties are going to be either too scared, offended at the sham that the election is, or it will just be too expensive for them to mount a nationwide campaign in that kind of environment. Who would fund a political party right now?" he said.
"This whole exercise is something to perpetuate military rule. It's a piece of theatre. It doesn't have to work, because they've decided what the outcome will be."
The junta says it is committed to democracy and seized power because of unaddressed violations in a 2020 election won in a landslide by the ruling NLD.
The NLD in November described the election as "phoney" and said it would not acknowledge it. The election has also been dismissed as a sham by Western governments. (Reuters)