Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6891)
November
Croatia, heading to enter euro zone, adopts first budget in euros
Written by Nur Yasmin
Croatia, which will enter the euro zone on Jan. 1, passed its first budget in euros on Tuesday, targeting a general deficit of 2.3% of gross domestic product based on the projection of 0.7% economic growth for 2023.
The budget was adopted with 77 votes in favour and 50 against in the 151-seat parliament.
"This is Croatia's first budget denominated in the euro," Finance Minister Marko Primorac said as he presented the budgetary plans.
"The introduction of the euro will strengthen our economy, it will be an anchor of stability, will make us more resistant and protected from external shocks and crises and will contribute to the improvement of investment climate," Primorac told lawmakers.
In July, European Union finance ministers formally approved Croatia - an EU member state since 2013 - becoming the 20th member of the euro common currency at the start of 2023, setting the conversion rate for entry at one euro to 7.53450 Croatian kuna.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the budget aims to cushion the effects of the Ukrainian war-triggered economic crisis, maintain growth and preserve social stability.
The total budget revenue is forecast at 24.9 billion euros ($25.86 billion), up 9% from this year and fuelled primarily by direct and indirect taxes projected at 13.3 billion euros.
Expenditures are set at 26.7 billion euros, up 2.1 billion euros from this year, due to an increase in government social and development programmes.
Economic growth of 5.7% expected this year is forecast to drop to 0.7% in 2023, while public debt is targeted to be cut to 67.9% of GDP from 70.2% this year. Inflation, which is projected at 10.4% this year, is seen dropping to 5.7% in 2023.
Opposition lawmakers have proposed 430 amendments to the budget but the government accepted only 10. (Reuters)
November
Suicide bomber attacks Pakistan police guarding polio vaccination team, kills four
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a police escort for a polio vaccination team in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing four people and wounding more than 30, police said, just two days after the militants ended a ceasefire.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack near the city of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, in a statement received by Reuters.
Separately, the army said it killed 10 militants in Balochistan on Tuesday, but did not clarify whether they were TTP or Baloch separatist fighters.
Police official Azfar Mehsar told reporters that the bomber rammed his vehicle into the police truck, detonating the explosives and forcing the police truck to plunge into a ravine.
The suicide bomber's victims included a policeman, a woman and a child, and some of the wounded were in a critical condition, another police official, Abdul Haq, told Reuters.
One of the wounded men died at the hospital, said an official, Wasim Baig, adding that 15 police officers were among the wounded.
Islamist militants in Pakistan often target polio vaccination teams, having spread rumours that the immunisation effort is a Western tool to spy on them and make Muslims infertile.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and vowed to press on with the vaccination campaign.
Although Pakistan kept relations with the Afghan Taliban during the long insurgency to drive western forces out of Afghanistan, it has been fighting the TTP in its own borders for years, even though the outfit has ties to the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP wants to overthrow Pakistan's government to replace it with a governance system that subscribes to their own harsh interpretation of Islamic laws.
The Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along Afghan border in recent months. (Reuters)
November
'End of an era': Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin dies at 96
Written by Nur Yasmin
Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who led the country for a decade of rapid economic growth after the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, died on Wednesday at the age of 96, Chinese state media reported.
Jiang died in his home city of Shanghai just after noon on Wednesday of leukaemia and multiple organ failure, Xinhua news agency said, publishing a letter to the Chinese people by the ruling Communist Party, parliament, Cabinet and the military.
"Comrade Jiang Zemin's death is an incalculable loss to our Party and our military and our people of all ethnic groups," the letter read, saying its announcement was with "profound grief".
Jiang's death comes at a tumultuous time in China, where authorities are grappling with rare widespread street protests among residents fed up with heavy-handed COVID-19 curbs nearly three years into the pandemic.
The zero-COVID policy is a hallmark or President Xi Jinping, who recently secured a third leadership term that cements his place as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong and has taken China in an increasingly authoritarian direction since replacing Jiang's immediate successor, Hu Jintao.
China is also in the midst of a sharp economic slowdown exacerbated by zero-COVID.
Numerous users of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform described the death of Jiang, who remained influential after finally retiring in 2004, as the end of an era.
"I'm very sad, not only for his departure, but also because I really feel that an era is over," a Henan province-based user wrote.
"As if what has happened wasn't enough, 2022 tells people in a more brutal way that an era is over," a Beijing Weibo user posted.
The online pages of state media sites including People's Daily and Xinhua turned to black and white in mourning.
Wednesday's letter described "our beloved Comrade Jiang Zemin" as an outstanding leader of high prestige, a great Marxist, statesman, military strategist and diplomat and a long-tested communist fighter.
Jiang was plucked from obscurity to head China's ruling Communist Party after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, but broke the country out of its subsequent diplomatic isolation, mending fences with the United States and overseeing an unprecedented economic boom.
He served as president from 1993 to 2003 but held China's top job, as head of the ruling Communist Party, from 1989 and handed over that role to Hu in 2002. He only gave up the position as head of the military in 2004, which he also assumed in 1989.
When Jiang retired, it was said by sources close to the leadership at the time that everywhere Hu looked he would see the supporters of his predecessor.
Jiang had stacked China's most powerful leadership body, the Politburo Standing Committee, with his own protégées, many of them from the so-called "Shanghai Gang".
But in the years after Jiang retired from his final post, the military commission chairmanship in 2004, Hu consolidated his grip, neutralised the Shanghai Gang and successfully anointed Xi as a successor. (Reuters)
November
UN Iran expert concerned about death sentences for protesters
Written by Nur Yasmin
A U.N.-appointed independent expert on Iran voiced concern on Tuesday that the repression of protesters was intensifying, with authorities launching a "campaign" of sentencing them to death.
The U.N. says more than 300 people have been killed so far and 14,000 arrested in protests which began after the Sept. 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.
"I'm afraid that the Iranian regime will react violently to the Human Rights Council resolution and this may trigger more violence and repression on their part," Javaid Rehman told Reuters, referring to a UN Human Rights Council vote to establish a probe into the crackdown last week.
Tehran has rejected the investigation and says it will not cooperate.
"Now (authorities) have started a campaign of sentencing (protesters) to death," he added, saying he expected more to be sentenced.
Already, 21 people arrested in the context of the protests face the death penalty, including a woman indicted on "vague and broadly formulated criminal offences", and six have been sentenced this month, Rehman said.
Iran has blamed foreign foes and their agents for the unrest. Its judiciary chief last month ordered judges to issue tough sentences for the "main elements of riots".
Even before the unrest, executions were rising and the U.N. human rights boss Volker Turk has said the number this year had reportedly surpassed 400 by September for the first time in five years.
The U.N. resolution is seen as being among the more strongly-worded in the body's 16-year history and urges the mission to "collect, consolidate and analyse evidence".
Past investigations launched by the council have led to war crimes cases, including the jailing of a Syrian ex-officer for state-backed torture in Germany this year.
Rehman said he expects the new Fact-Finding Mission to provide a list of perpetrators and share that with national and regional legal authorities.
"It will ensure accountability and it will provide evidence to the courts and tribunals," he said. A U.N. document showed the mission would have 15 staff members and a budget of $3.67 million. (Reuters)
November
Indian billionaire Adani's firm wins bid to develop vast Mumbai slum
Written by Nur Yasmin
The real estate unit of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) has won the right to redevelop India's largest slum, Mumbai's Dharavi neighbourhood, with a 50 billion rupee ($612 million) bid, a state official said on Tuesday.
Believed to be the largest slum in Asia, Dharavi is a crowded area that houses thousands of poor families in cramped quarters in the center of India's financial capital. Many residents have no access to running water or clean toilets.
The redevelopment was first mooted in the 1980s as a way to develop valuable land while providing proper housing to those living there.
Adani's winning bid of 50 billion rupees was more than double that of real estate group DLF, which bid 20 billion rupees($244.87 million), said SVR Srinivas, CEO of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, a government enterprise in the western state of Maharashtra.
"It will be a township - a city within a city, with mixed land use, both commercial and residential," Srinivas told Reuters, describing the redevelopment, which will cover 625 acres (253 hectares) as "the world's largest urban renewal scheme."
It is the latest mega-project taken on by ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Enterprises, which already supplies electricity in Mumbai through listed unit Adani Transmission Ltd (ADAN.NS).
Another group project, a $900 million port redevelopment in Kerala state, has been stalled for months by protesters. There have been no major protests to date against the Dharavi redevelopment.
Adani Enterprises last week said it would raise 200 billion Indian rupees ($2.45 billion) in India's largest follow-on public offering of new shares as it aggressively expands into sectors such as cement and healthcare, amid some concerns about its elevated debt levels.
The redevelopment of Dharavi will be the fourth project Adani Realty has taken on in Mumbai and the 24th across four cities, according to its website.
Earlier this year, chairman Gautam Adani had said that the Adani Group would invest more than $100 billion over the next decade, most of it as part of a bid to transition to renewable energy.
A spokesperson for the Adani group did not respond to a request for comment on the Dharavi bid. (Reuters)
November
Russia warns U.S. that its deeper involvement in Ukraine brings growing risks
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russia is trying to make the United States understand that Washington's increasing involvement in the Ukraine conflict carries growing risks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies.
Moscow has repeatedly complained that Western military support for Ukraine is dragging out the conflict, now in its 10th month, while risking a possible direct confrontation between Russia and the West.
"We are sending signals to the Americans that their line of escalation and ever deeper involvement in this conflict is fraught with dire consequences. The risks are growing," the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
Kyiv and the West say Russia is to blame for any further escalation following what they say was Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, ongoing occupation of Ukrainian territory, and thinly veiled nuclear threats.
Ryabkov was cited as saying that there was no dialogue between Washington and Moscow, but that the two sides "periodically exchange signals".
He was not aware of any contact through a specific U.S.-Russia military hot line installed at the start of what Moscow calls "a special military operation," he said.
A U.S. official told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that a special "deconfliction" line between the Russian and U.S. militaries had been used once since the start of the war.
"I am not aware of any deconfliction channel in relation to what is happening in Ukraine ... We do not have any dialogue with the United States on the Ukraine topic because our positions are radically different," Ryabkov was cited as saying. (Reuters)
November
Taliban militants in Pakistan end ceasefire with government - spokesman
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taliban militants in Pakistan will no longer abide by a months-long ceasefire with the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the militant group said on Monday.
The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year.
The end of the ceasefire comes ahead of a visit by a Pakistani delegation, led by state minister for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, to Kabul on Tuesday.
Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters in a text message that its leadership had decided to end the ceasefire with Pakistan.
A TTP statement urged its fighters to resume attacks in retaliation towards a continuous military campaign against them. The Pakistani military has carried out several offensives against the militants in their strongholds in remote lawless districts bordering Afghanistan.
The TTP is an umbrella group of several Sunni militant groups who have been attacking the state for years, with the aim of overthrowing the government and governing the South Asian nation of 220 million with the Taliban's strict brand of Islamic laws.
There was no immediate response from the government.
The TTP has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks inside Pakistan since 2007. It is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, but pledges allegiance to them. (Reuters)
November
Smog engulfs Indian capital as winter pollution worsens
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thick smog engulfed India's capital New Delhi on Tuesday as air pollution worsened with the setting in of winter, shooting up concentrations of fine particles in the air three times above the acceptable limits.
The world's most polluted capital city struggles to breathe easy every winter as cold temperatures and calm winds trap pollutants closer to the ground.
"As the minimum temperature is dropping, gradual fog occurrence during early morning hours is likely to increase, leading to deterioration of air quality index (AQI)," said the federal government's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) in a daily bulletin.
The AQI in parts of the city shot up above 400 on Tuesday, which is classified as the 'severe' category of air pollution, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The level of fine particles measuring 2.5 micrograms or PM2.5 was 180 micrograms per cubic metre of air as of 10am in the Delhi National Capital Region, CPCB data showed, three times above the 24 hour acceptable limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre of air.
Authorities have brought in several measures over the years to improve the city's air quality, including switching Delhi's fleet of public transport to cleaner fuel, spraying water from on top of towers and on roads and controlling burning of firewood and waste during cold weather.
But experts have said these measures need to be applied across northern India and in cities and towns around New Delhi that form the wider National Capital Region, which also suffer from poor air quality, to effectively control pollution. (Reuters)
November
Hong Kong leader says Beijing concerned about foreign lawyers in security cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Tuesday the central government in Beijing was "highly concerned" about the issue of foreign lawyers appearing in national security cases, with a landmark legal interpretation on the matter by Beijing expected soon.
Lee on Monday asked Beijing's legislative body to rule on a Hong Kong request to block foreign lawyers from working on national security cases, after the city's top court ruled that a British lawyer could represent jailed pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Lee told a news conference on Tuesday that he expected China's National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) to make a ruling on the matter "as soon as possible", but did not indicate whether the decision would come before the start of Lai's trial on Thursday.
Lee said Hong Kong authorities are seeking a delay to the start of the trial.
Hong Kong's Department of Justice has repeatedly tried and failed to prevent British barrister Timothy Owen from representing Lai, one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of China's Communist Party leadership, in a landmark national security case.
Owen told Reuters he was unable to comment on the situation.
Hong Kong's highest court, the Court of Final Appeal, on Monday dismissed a government bid to block Owen from the trial and impose a "blanket ban" on foreign lawyers working on national security cases.
But Lee argued that Beijing's intervention, which would be only the sixth instance of China's top legislative body weighing in on legal matters in Hong Kong, was necessary in part because a foreign lawyer might divulge state secrets or be compromised by a foreign government.
Some legal experts said, however, that this would erode public confidence in Hong Kong's judicial independence, which was guaranteed under the "one country, two systems" arrangement in place since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
"What we've seen with interpretations is basically, 'Heads I win, tails you lose," Alvin Cheung, an assistant law professor at Queen's University in Canada, told Reuters.
Cheung was part of a group that drafted a legal analysis in May, signed by Britain's former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and retired Australian high court judge Michael Kirby, that identified NPCSC interpretations as one of the main threats to Hong Kong's rule of law.
"The NPCSC is a political (and undemocratic) body whose proceedings take place behind closed doors, with no participation from the parties at suit. Its decisions are actuated by political considerations rather than legal evaluation and contain little to no reasoning," the legal opinion read.
Victor Dawes, chairman of the city's Bar Association, said he hoped the NPCSC's power of interpretation would be used sparingly, but said Hong Kong had enough senior talent in the local bar to handle national security cases.
"The exercise of such power will inevitably attract discussion and also criticism of our legal system," said Dawes, whose group represents Hong Kong's more than 1,600 barristers.
Speaking privately, five criminal and commercial lawyers who are members of the local bar said the move was being widely discussed among their peers, sparking concerns that it would further dent the city's rule of law traditions which had long included the use of foreign lawyers by both prosecutors and the defence.
"It is a grim moment," said one veteran Hong Kong criminal lawyer. "Some of us will be accelerating plans to leave. The message is all too clear." The lawyer declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Hong Kong officials, including Lee, have said repeatedly that Hong Kong is strongly committed to the rule of law, and its independent judicial power is constitutionally protected. (Reuters)
November
General Asim Munir takes charge as chief of Pakistan's powerful army
Written by Nur Yasmin
General Asim Munir on Tuesday took charge as Pakistan's new army chief, a key change of command in an institution that plays a huge influential role in the governance of the nuclear-armed nation.
Munir, who was named as the new chief last week, takes control at a time when the army has been drawn into a political showdown between the government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, even as the country faces an economic crisis.
"I am certain that his (Munir's) appointment will prove positive for the army and the country," outgoing chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said at a handover ceremony at the army's General Headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Bajwa, who served as chief for six years, has recently drawn the ire of Khan and his supporters, who claimed that the army played a part in his ouster from premiership in April in a no-confidence vote. The army has denied any role.
"General Asim Munir's first priority is to restore the relationship of respect and love between the nation and the military leadership," Asad Umar, a senior Khan aide, said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Khan, meanwhile, has said he would continue with his campaign to press the government to hold early elections. He has also threatened to dissolve provincial assemblies under his party's control, which could lead to a constitutional crisis.
Munir also faces a possible resurgence of militant activity in the country, with the Pakistani Taliban announcing a day earlier that it will no longer abide by a months-long ceasefire with the government. (reuters)