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November
Malaysia PM Anwar eyes targeted subsidies for low-income groups
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysia is reviewing its government subsidies programme, aiming to direct money toward low-income groups, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday, prioritising the rising cost of living as he takes office at a time of slowing growth.
Government agencies have two weeks to review the implications of narrowing the subsidies, he told a news conference.
Malaysia offers subsidies to all citizens, with fuel and cooking oil accounting for the biggest expense. It also subsidises electricity, sugar and flour.
"Subsidies must be targeted, otherwise those subsidies are enjoyed not just by the low income group but also the wealthy," said Anwar, who emerged as leader of the Southeast Asian nation after a closely fought election last week.
Other incentives will be considered for industries that no longer benefit from subsidies, he said.
Anwar is carrying through the stance of the previous administration, which last month proposed a smaller budget, cutting subsidies due to rising commodities costs and the resulting impact on government coffers. Malaysia is estimated to spend a record 77.7 billion ringgit ($17.4 billion) this year on subsidies.
Anwar said he will discuss cabinet appointments with his coalition partners in the next few days.
The 75-year-old was sworn on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, prisoner convicted of sodomy and opposition figurehead.
Investors have cheered his appointment, hoping Anwar would bring stability after political uncertainty that saw three prime ministers in as many years.
The focus is on the new government's policy direction and cabinet appointments. Anwar said on Friday he would have a smaller cabinet than those of previous administrations. (Reuters)
November
China poses increasing threat in military space race, top U.S. general says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Rapid advancements in China’s military capabilities pose increasing risks to American supremacy in outer space, the head of the United States military’s space wing said on Monday.
Nina Armagno, director of staff of the U.S. Space Force, said Beijing had made significant progress in developing military space technology, including in areas such as satellite communications and re-useable spacecraft, which allow countries to rapidly scale up their space programs.
“I think it's entirely possible they could catch up and surpass us, absolutely,” Armagno said at an event in Sydney run by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organisation partly funded by the U.S. and Australian governments. “The progress they've made has been stunning, stunningly fast.”
Historically lagging in a space race dominated by the United States and Russia, Beijing has made significant advances in recent years that have alarmed Washington and other Western nations.
Ye Peijian, the head of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, has likened the moon and Mars to contested islands in the South China Sea that Beijing is attempting to claim.
China is also developing experimental technology aimed at mining asteroids and minor planets for natural resources.
“[China] is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to achieve that objective,” Armagno said.
Along with Russia, China has also conducted “reckless” missile tests that have created dangerous amounts of space debris in recent years, Armagno said.
“These debris fields threatened all of our systems in space, and these systems are vital to all nations’ security, economic and scientific interests,” she said.
Founded in 2019 in part as an attempt to counter the rising capabilities of China, the Space Force is the fourth branch of the U.S. military, with Armagno serving as its first permanent leader. It is set to launch three astronauts to its new space station on Tuesday. (Reuters)
November
Australian government moves to censure former prime minister over secret ministries
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's Labor government said it will move a parliamentary censure motion against former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison this week after an inquiry found his secret appointment to multiple ministries undermined trust in government.
Morrison, who lost power in a general election in May, secretly accumulated five ministerial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic: health, finance, treasury, resources and home affairs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said a motion of censure would be introduced to the Labor-controlled House of Representative this week by either the leader of the house or the attorney general.
"This wasn't about a relationship between the former prime minister and his ministers. It's not a personal relationship between two mates over what happened down the pub," Albanese said during a news conference.
"This is about accountability of our democratic system, and whether the parliament was functioning properly."
An inquiry led by former High Court judge Virginia Bell last week made six recommendations for reform after finding the appointments likely hurt public confidence in government.
Having committed to all six changes, Albanese said legislation to require public notification of ministerial appointments will be introduced this week.
Regulatory changes that don't require legislation have already been made, he added. (Reuters)
November
Japan PM Kishida's approval hits new low after ministers resign
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's public support slipped to a new low in a poll published on Sunday, as a series of cabinet resignations has compounded anger over the ruling party's ties to a controversial religious group.
Support for Kishida's cabinet fell to 33.1% from 37.6% a month ago in the Kyodo news poll, his lowest in the agency's surveys since he took office in October 2021. It found disapproval at 51.6%, exceeding 50% for the first time.
Kishida's support has been sliding since the July assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed deep and longstanding ties between ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians and the Unification Church, a group that critics say is a cult.
Exacerbating the government's problems, scandals have forced three cabinet members from office since last month.
The Kyodo poll found 62.4% of respondents disapproving of how Kishida had handled the resignations of Economic Revitalisation Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa, Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi and Internal Affairs Minister Minoru Terada.
Kishida's approval failed to get a boost from a $200 billion economic support package to ease inflationary pains fuelled by the yen's plunge to 32-year-lows.
On the government's push to boost Japan's defence capabilities, 60.8% in the Kyodo survey said they would support the country acquiring counterattack capabilities - controversial under the pacifist constitution - to boosting deterrence, while 35% opposed it. (Reuters)
November
Erdogan says Turkish, Egyptian ministers to meet in process of building ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in comments broadcast on Sunday that a process of building relations with Egypt will start with ministers of the two countries meeting and that the talks would develop from there.
After years of tension between the two countries, Erdogan shook hands with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Qatar last week in what was described in an Egyptian presidency statement as a new start in bilateral relations between them.
In a televised discussion programme recorded in Turkey's Konya province on Saturday, Erdogan said that he and Sisi had spoken for around half an hour to 45 minutes at that meeting on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar.
"We had narrowly focused talks with Mr. Sisi there and said now let's have ministers coming and going at a low level. After that, let's broaden and widen these talks," Erdogan said, also signalling the possibility of improving ties with rival Syria.
"Just as this business is now on track with Egypt, things may also get on track with Syria," he said.
Ankara's ties with Cairo have been strained since Sisi, then Egypt's army chief, led the 2013 ouster of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was strongly supported by Erdogan.
The two countries started consultations between senior foreign ministry officials last year amid a push by Turkey to ease tensions with Egypt, the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
November
China calls for ambitious, pragmatic biodiversity deal
Written by Nur Yasmin
China will lead talks to secure an "ambitious and pragmatic" new global pact to preserve biodiversity at a U.N. meeting that begins next week, but implementing the deal remains the biggest challenge, Chinese officials said on Monday.
Representatives of nearly 200 countries will gather in Montreal on Dec. 5 to secure a "post-2020 framework" to protect habitats and ecosystems and ensure the sustainable and equitable use of biological resources.
Zhou Guomei, head of the international department of the environment ministry, told reporters that negotiations so far had not been "plain sailing" but focused on an ambitious deal that was "also pragmatic, balanced, feasible and achievable".
Originally set to be held in China's southwestern city of Kunming, the meeting, known as COP15, was relocated this year because of tough zero-COVID curbs. China will continue to serve as president.
In last year's first phase of talks, more than 100 nations signed the "Kunming Declaration" for urgent action to include biodiversity protection in all sectors of the global economy. But they were unable to reach consensus on issues such as funding conservation in poorer countries.
Zhou said there were still differences on a number of issues, and success would depend on an implementation mechanism for resources and financial support to be mobilised.
A previous biodiversity pact signed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, set 20 targets to try to slow biodiversity loss by 2020. None of those targets was met in full.
Countries need to "fully consider" the attainability of any new targets, said Cui Shuhong, head of the ministry's natural ecology department.
"We should learn fully from the experience and lessons during the implementation of the Aichi targets, not only to boost the ambition and confidence in global biodiversity conservation, but also to be down-to-earth and realistic," he added. (Reuters)
November
China set to launch Shenzhou-15 spacecraft to its space station on Tuesday
Written by Nur Yasmin
China will launch the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft to its space station at 11:08 p.m. (1508 GMT) on Nov. 29, the China Manned Space Agency said on Monday, the final mission in the country's plan to complete the crewed orbital outpost.
Onboard will be three male astronauts: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, the agency said at a news conference.
The space station will be handed over to them within a week by the three astronauts who arrived in early June.
"During the stay, the Shenzhou-15 crew will welcome the visiting Tianzhou-6 cargo ship and hand over the Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship, and are planning to return to China's Dongfeng landing site in May next year," said Ji Qiming, a spokesperson at the agency.
"Currently, the space station combination is in stable status with all equipment functioning well, and ready for the rendezvous, docking and the crew handover," Ji added.
In April 2021, China began construction of the three-module space station with the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters for astronauts.
In July and November it launched the remaining two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, where scientific experiments will be performed.
The completion of the space station, designed for a lifespan of at least 10 years, will be a milestone in China's ambitions in low-earth orbit, with NASA's aging ISS potentially ceasing operations by the end of the decade. (Reuters)
November
Iran rejects U.N. investigation into protests - spokesperson
Written by Nur Yasmin
Iran will reject a newly-appointed independent U.N. investigation into the country's repression of anti-government protests, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations showed no sign of abating.
"Iran will have no cooperation with the political committee formed by the U.N. Rights Council," ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
The U.N. Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint a probe into Iran's deadly crackdown on protests.
Volker Turk, the U.N. rights commissioner, had earlier demanded that Iran end its "disproportionate" use of force in quashing protests that erupted after the death in custody of 22-year old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16.
Activist news agency HRANA said 450 protesters had been killed in more than two months of nationwide unrest as of Nov. 26, including 63 minors. It said 60 members of the security forces had been killed, and 18,173 protesters detained.
Challenging the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, protesters from all walks of life have burned pictures of Khamenei and called for the downfall of Iran's Shi'ite Muslim theocracy.
The protests have particularly focused on women's rights - Amini was detained by morality police for attire deemed inappropriate under Iran's Islamic dress code - but have also called for the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The unrest has posed one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical ruling elite since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution, though authorities have crushed previous rounds of major protests.
Iran has blamed foreign foes and their agents for the unrest.
Iran has proof that Western nations were involved in protests that have swept the country, Kanaani said on Monday.
"We have specific information proving that the U.S., Western countries and some of the American allies have had a role in the protests," he said, without giving details.
Iran has given no death toll for protesters, but a deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, has said that about 50 police had died and hundreds been injured in the unrest - the first official figure for deaths among security forces.
He did not say whether that figure also included deaths among other security forces such as the Revolutionary Guards. (Reuters)
November
China reports third consecutive daily record for new COVID cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
China reported 35,183 new COVID-19 infections on Nov. 25, of which 3,474 were symptomatic and 31,709 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, setting a new high for the third consecutive day.
That compared with 32,943 new cases a day earlier – 3,103 symptomatic and 29,840 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.
Excluding imported cases, China reported 34,909 new local cases on Friday, of which 3,405 were symptomatic and 31,504 were asymptomatic, up from 32,695 a day earlier.
There were no deaths, keeping fatalities at 5,232. As of Friday, mainland China had confirmed 304,093 cases with symptoms.
Mega-cities continue to struggle to contain outbreaks, with Chongqing and Guangzhou recording the bulk of new cases.
Chongqing, a southwestern city of 32 million people, reported 7,721 new local cases for Friday, a jump of almost 20% from the previous day.
Guangzhou, a prosperous city of nearly 19 million people in southern China, reported 7,419 new local cases for Friday, down slightly from 7,524 cases a day earlier.
New local cases for Friday in the capital Beijing jumped 58% to 2,595, according to figures released by local health authorities on Saturday.
There are COVID outbreaks in almost all Chinese provinces, with Hebei, Sichuan, Shanxi and Qinghai provinces each registering more than a thousand new cases on Friday. (Reuters)
November
Pakistan interior minister asks former PM Khan to postpone march, cites militant threat
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that former prime minister Imran Khan should postpone the resumption of his protest march to Islamabad from Rawalpindi, stating that there had been threats of attacks from militant groups.
Khan has said he would resume his protest march on Nov. 26 after surviving an apparent assassination attempt earlier this month.
Khan faces "danger" to his life, Sanaullah said. (Reuters)