Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6891)
December
South Korea, U.S. consider live-fire drills amid North Korea threats
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea and the United States are considering staging their first large-scale joint live-fire demonstration in six years in 2023 amid North Korea's growing military threats, Seoul's defence ministry said on Thursday.
The drills have been floated as South Korea and the United States discuss preparations for the 70th anniversary of their alliance next year, ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu said.
"Marking that occasion, we are exploring various ways to showcase our military's presence and the alliance's overwhelming deterrence capabilities against North Korea," Jeon told a regular briefing.
"A combined joint live-fire demonstration can be one of the options."
The demonstration would be another joint display of force to be resumed following a years-long hiatus under new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who pledged to bolster military capabilities and readiness to deter North Korea's weapons development.
On Tuesday, the United States flew its F-22 Raptor stealth fighters for joint drills with South Korea for the first time since 2018, hours after North Korea criticised both countries and vowed more missile tests.
In September, the allies staged their first exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier since 2018.
Such exercises were halted under Yoon's predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who had prioritised engagement with the North, which denounced them as a rehearsal for invasion.
North Korea has tested an unprecedented number of missiles this year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) designed to strike the U.S. mainland. It has also completed preparations for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017, Seoul and Washington officials said. (Reuters)
December
Putin oversees launch of Siberian gas field feeding pipeline to China
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a major new Siberian gas field on Wednesday to help drive a planned surge in supply to China.
The Kovykta gas field will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China. With recoverable reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic metres, it is the largest in eastern Russia.
The launch is part of Russia's strategy to shift gas exports to the east as the European Union cuts reliance on Russian energy in response to the war in Ukraine.
Putin hailed it as a "significant event" for Russia's energy industry and the whole economy. He joined a video link to workers at the site, who were shown lined up on the snow in blue protective suits and white helmets, and gave the order "Start work!" to inaugurate the project.
Russia started selling natural gas to China at the end of 2019 via the Power of Siberia pipeline, which supplied about 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in 2021 and is due to reach its full capacity of 38 bcm in 2025. Russia is now Beijing's No. 3 gas supplier.
In February, Putin reached an agreement to sell an additional 10 bcm of gas to China from Russia's Far East through a new, smaller pipeline to China's northeast.
Russia also plans to construct another major pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2, via Mongolia with a view to selling an additional 50 bcm of gas per year.
Putin said last week the projects would allow Russia to boost its gas sales to China to 48 bcm annually by 2025 and to 88 bcm by 2030.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev made a surprise visit to China on Wednesday for talks with President Xi Jinping, which Medvedev said had included discussion of the "no limits" strategic partnership that the two countries announced in February. (Reuters)
December
First foreign COVID vaccines head to China from Germany
Written by Nur Yasmin
Berlin has sent its first batch of BioNTech (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccines to China to be administered initially to German expatriates, a German government spokesperson said on Wednesday, the first foreign coronavirus vaccine to be delivered to the country.
No other details were available on the timing and size of the delivery, although the spokesperson said Berlin is pushing for foreigners other than German citizens to be allowed access to the shot if they want it.
The shipment comes after China agreed to allow German nationals in China to get the shot following a deal during Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit in Beijing last month, with the German leader pressing for Beijing to allow the shot to be made freely available to Chinese citizens as well.
There are about 20,000 German nationals currently in the country.
"I can confirm a shipment of the BioNTech vaccine is on its way to China," the person told journalists in Berlin.
"We are working on the possibility that besides Germans also other foreigners can be vaccinated with BioNTech."
In return, Chinese citizens in Europe can be vaccinated with China's SinoVac (SVA.O), the spokesperson said.
The comment comes after a report earlier this month that Germany's health ministry had granted a permit allowing China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to be imported to Germany to be given to Chinese citizens in that country.
The shot has not been approved for use by Europe's drug regulator, but the World Health Organization has given its green light for its use.
Beijing has so far insisted on using only domestically produced vaccines, which are not based on the Western mRNA technology but on more traditional technologies.
The shipment comes amid Beijing dismantling its strict "zero-COVID" regime of lockdowns, which has led to a surge of cases that caught a fragile health system unprepared.
Experts predict that the country of 1.4 billion people could face more than a million COVID deaths next year.
Allowing German expats access to a Western shot is a big gesture to Berlin, reflecting Beijing's effort to strengthen ties with EU's biggest economy after years of tensions over trade and climate between the two countries.
Frankfurt-listed shares in BioNTech briefly spiked on news of the shipment, and were up 1.9% at 1456 GMT. Pfizer shares were up 0.6% in New York.
BioNTech was not immediately available to comment on the situation on Wednesday.
NO WESTERN SHOTS
The WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing on Wednesday the UN agency is concerned by the spike in COVID-19 infections in the world's No. 2 economy.
He said the WHO is supporting the government to focus its efforts on vaccinating people at the highest risk across the country.
China has nine domestically developed COVID vaccines approved for use, more than any other country. But none has been updated to target the highly infectious Omicron variant, as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna (MRNA.O) have for boosters in many developed countries.
The two shots developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are the most widely used around the world.
Early on in the pandemic, BioNTech struck a deal with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (600196.SS) with a view to supply the shots to greater China.
While the shots became available in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the regulatory review for mainland China has not been concluded. BioNTech has said that decision was up to Chinese regulators and has not given a reason for the delay.
China's zero-COVID policy and lockdown measures have kept death and infection rates minimal over the past months but caused massive disruptions both domestically and in global trade and supply chains.
China uses a narrow definition of COVID deaths and reported no new fatalities for Tuesday, even crossing one off its overall tally since the pandemic began, now at 5,241 - a fraction of the tolls of many much less populous countries.
The National Health Commission said on Tuesday only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure in patients who had the virus are classified as COVID deaths. (Reuters)
December
End of Japan COVID curbs triggers surge in visitors to near 1 mln in November
Written by Nur Yasmin
Visitor arrivals to Japan jumped to nearly 1 million in November, the first full month after the country scrapped COVID-19 curbs that effectively halted tourism for more than two years, data showed on Wednesday.
The number of foreign visitors, for both tourism and business, rose to 934,500 last month, almost double the October figure, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said. Still, arrivals were down nearly two-thirds compared with pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
"The demand for Japan out of North America is very strong right now," said Virgilio Russi, vice president of international sales for Air Canada (AC.TO), speaking Reuters in an interview before Wednesday's numbers were released.
Passenger demand from Canada to Japan is more than double what it was in 2019, Russi added, citing a shift away from China among business travellers, as well as tourists taking advantage of the current weakness of the yen.
"From a cost perspective, Japan is quite reasonable right now," he said.
While the yen has climbed this week after a surprise policy change by the Bank of Japan, it remains 13% weaker against the U.S. dollar this year. And while China has begun to relax its zero-COVID policy, analysts don't expect its borders to reopen till March or April.
So far this year, 2.46 million visitors have arrived in Japan, the JNTO data showed. That's a fraction of the record 31.8 million in 2019 and the government's original 2020 goal of 40 million, timed to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics that were eventually postponed due to the pandemic.
Japan on Oct. 11 ended some of the world's strictest border controls, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on tourism to boost the economy.
The government aims to attract 5 trillion yen ($38 billion) in annual tourist spending. But that may be difficult to reach given Japan's hospitality sector is suffering from a labour shortage and many Chinese citizens remain unable to travel.
A record 9.5 million Chinese people came to Japan in 2019, close to a third of all visitors. (Reuters)
December
Sri Lanka's national consumer price inflation eases to 65% in Nov
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka's National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) (LKNCPI=ECI) eased year-on-year to 65% in November after a 70.6% jump in October, the statistics department said on Wednesday.
Food prices were up 69.8% in November, while non-food inflation was 60.4%, the Department of Census and Statistics of the crisis-struck nation said in a statement.
Sri Lanka has been struggling with soaring inflation for nearly a year, partly triggered by its worst financial crisis in seven decades and an ill-thought out ban on chemical fertilizer implemented last year, which has since been reversed.
"November has shown a faster deceleration than expected and this is likely to continue but the easing could be offset by an electricity power increase the government may implement early next year," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital.
Inflation is projected to decline below 60% by the end of the year but is projected to return to single digit level in the third quarter of next year, he added.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe predicted that if the current trend of monetary policy was followed, inflation could drop to 4%-5% by the end of next year. read more
The NCPI captures broad retail price inflation across the island nation and is released with a lag of 21 days every month.
The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) (LKCCPI=ECI), released at the end of each month, is more closely monitored. It acts as a lead indicator for broader national prices and shows how inflation is evolving in the biggest city of Colombo.
The CCPI eased to 61% in November, data showed last month.
In September, Sri Lanka reached a preliminary deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $2.9 billion bailout but it needs to get its debt on a sustainable track and put its public finances in order before funds can be disbursed. (Reuters)
December
25 militants killed in Pakistan army raid on detention centre; one hostage dies
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan's security forces killed 25 of 35 Islamist militants holed up in a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern city of Bannu, while one hostage and two commandos died in the operation to retake the compound, the army said.
Militants being held at the centre took control of the compound on Sunday after overpowering their interrogators and taking their weapons, leading to a two day siege and ultimately army commandoes storming the compound on Tuesday.
"Resurgence in terrorism poses a renewed threat to our national security," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet, adding, "Our valiant security forces are fully capable of dealing with this threat."
Army spokesman Major General Ahmed Sharif speaking to local TV channel Geo News late on Tuesday said seven of the 35 holed up militants surrendered, and another three who tried to escape were arrested. One hostage, a security official, died during the raid, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said all of the militants had been killed and all hostages rescued, but later clarified that the army would provide the final figures and details of the operation.
The army spokesman's comments provided the first detailed official account of the standoff, in which two security personnel were killed when the militants first took over the compound, and two commandoes killed in the ensuing raid.
He said one militant was able to first overpower his interrogator with a brick and seize his weapon. Later other militants at the centre broke into a storeroom where confiscated weapons had been stored.
"We tried very hard to get them (militants) to surrender unconditionally. They weren't ready," Sharif said, adding that they wanted safe passage to Afghanistan, which was rejected by authorities.
STANDOFF
After talks failed to resolve a two-day standoff, army commandos stormed the centre on Tuesday. Ten soldiers, including three officers, were also wounded.
Sharif described the raid being a fierce firefight. Earlier, residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead.
The militants mostly belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of Sunni Islamist and sectarian groups that associates itself with the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP emerged to fight the Pakistani state and enforce its own harsh brand of Islam in the years after U.S.-led allied forces intervened in neighbouring Afghanistan to oust its ruling Taliban in 2001 and drive them over the border into Pakistan.
The TTP has ramped up attacks in recent weeks since announcing the end of an Afghan Taliban-brokered ceasefire with the Islamabad last month.
The TTP initially confirmed the militants' demand to be given passage to Afghanistan, but later said Pakistan's former tribal regions were also safe for the militants to flee to. (Reuters)
December
Japan formin to postpone reported China trip to next year -TV Asahi
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will postpone an expected trip to China to meet with his counterpart Wang Yi to late January or later due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, TV Asahi reported on Wednesday.
Hayashi had previously been making arrangements to travel to China this month, public broadcaster NHK reported last week. (Reuters)
December
South Korea's president stresses need for labour reforms
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Wednesday reforming practices in the labour market should be a top priority for his government's drive to improve the way the country works.
"We should significantly change labour market practices in step with the fast-changing industrial structure and changes in labour demand," Yoon said, adding that the rule of law should be firmly established in labour practices.
The conservative Yoon, who took office early this year, has repeatedly said his government would strictly apply the law to labour relations in a country with a long record of fractious industrial relations.
Yoon, speaking at a finance ministry briefing on next year's economic strategy, also said the education system and public pension service were areas that needed reform.
The tax burden on the owners of multiple homes should be lowered to ease the burden on renters, he said. (Reuters)
December
China, Australia ministers meet as trading partners seek to restore ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, following messages between the country's leaders, as the trading partners seek to stabilise their frosty diplomatic relationship.
Ties between Australia and its major trading partner China had deteriorated in recent years, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, following messages between the country's leaders, as the trading partners seek to stabilise their frosty diplomatic relationship.
Ties between Australia and its major trading partner China had deteriorated in recent years, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting followed a message from China's President Xi Jinping sent earlier in the day to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promising China will work to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership, state media reported.
Before meeting Wang, Wong addressed staff at the Australian embassy on a video link from Diaoyutai, where she will stay for the duration of the overnight visit as part of a so-called "closed loop" system that will isolate her and her entourage amid China's COVID-19 outbreak.
Albanese thanked Xi for his telegram commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in which he said, "I attach great importance to the development of China-Australia relations and am willing to work with the Australian side", according to CCTV.
Albanese told a news conference in Sydney, "It is important that we deliver better relations with our major trading partner in the future."
The rapprochement between Australia and China ends years of frozen relations. Wong's visit is the first by an Australian minister since 2019 and the first formal talks in Beijing since 2018.
In addition to the call for an investigation of COVID's origins, Beijing was also angered by the previous Liberal government in Canberra effectively banning Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from Australia's 5G network.
A meeting between Albanese and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali last month signalled a thaw in ties, although China's trade sanctions remain in place.
Wong's meeting with Wang took place as part of the sixth Australia–China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue. (Reuters)
December
India on lookout for new COVID variants as cases in other countries climb
Written by Nur Yasmin
India's government has asked the country's states to keep a sharp lookout for any new variants of the coronavirus, citing an increase in COVID-19 cases in China and other parts of the globe.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met senior government officials on Wednesday to discuss the matter, with all those present wearing masks - a practice that has not been mandatory in most parts of the country for several months.
China has seen a surge in infections after ending strict COVID restrictions, while data from the World Health Organization shows infections have risen in countries like Japan, South Korea and the United States in recent days.
"In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples," Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote in a letter to the states on Tuesday.
"Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any."
The government has asked all states to ensure that samples of positive cases are sent to the country's 54 designated genome sequencing laboratories.
Some opposition leaders and Twitter users in India have called for a suspension of flights to and from China. A government source, who was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified, said there was no such plan.
Mandaviya also asked participants in a cross-country march organised by the opposition Congress party to ensure they are vaccinated and follow safety measures like wearing masks.
With more 44 million COVID cases to date, India has reported the most in the world after the United States. Its number of confirmed infections has, however, fallen sharply in the past few months, with about 1,200 cases being reported every week at present. (Reuters)