Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
October
Japanese Economy Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa plans to step down on growing calls from the opposition to resign due to his insufficient explanations about his ties to the controversial Unification Church, public broadcaster NHK said on Monday.
His resignation would be a blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as revelations about connections between nearly half of the lawmakers at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the church came under the spotlight following the July assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Reuters)
October
Ethiopia government, Tigray forces to meet for first peace talks since conflict began
Written by Nur Yasmin
An Ethiopian government delegation and rival Tigray forces were due to meet in South Africa for the first formal peace talks since war broke out two years ago.
The talks will take place as Ethiopian forces and their allies make significant battlefield gains in the northern Tigray region, where they have captured several large towns in the past week.
The war is rooted in a power struggle between the federal government and Tigray authorities, who led the country's ruling coalition until Abiy Ahmed became prime minister in 2018.
The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine.
Ethiopia's government said in a statement its delegation had left for South Africa to participate in the talks, which are being mediated by the African Union.
"The Government of Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity to peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate the improvement of the situation on the ground," it said.
Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the Tigray forces, said the Tigrayan delegation had already arrived.
He said on Twitter the focus of the talks would be on immediate cessation of hostilities, unfettered humanitarian access, and the withdrawal of Eritrean forces, who have fought alongside Ethiopian federal troops during the conflict.
The Tigray delegation is being led by one of its top generals, Tsadkan Gebretensae, and spokesman Getachew Reda, an official familiar with the talks told Reuters.
The delegation arrived on Sunday on a U.S. military aircraft, accompanied by the U.S. special envoy to the Horn of Africa, the official said.
Both sides had committed to the talks in South Africa earlier this month, but they were delayed for logistical reasons. (Reuters)
October
Sunak looks set to become next UK PM after Johnson quits race
Written by Nur Yasmin
Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain's next prime minister after his rival Boris Johnson quit the race, admitting that he could no longer unite their party following one of the most turbulent periods in British political history.
Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, could be named leader as soon as Monday to replace Liz Truss, becoming Britain's third prime minister in less than two months.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss will face one of the most daunting set of challenges, tasked with rebuilding Britain's fiscal reputation through deep spending cuts as it slides into a recession, dragged down by surging energy, food and mortgage rates.
He will also preside over a party that has bounced from one crisis to the next in recent months, badly split along ideological lines, and a country that is growing increasingly angry at the conduct of its politicians.
"The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis," Sunak said in a statement declaring his candidacy on Sunday.
First he must defeat the last candidate in the contest, Penny Mordaunt, who is fighting to secure the support of 100 lawmakers to get on to Monday's ballot. Mordaunt, who is leader of parliament's House of Commons, has so far received the backing of around 25 politicians. More than 150 have backed Sunak.
Should she fail to hit the threshold, Sunak would become prime minister. If she makes it on to the ballot, the party's members will select the winner on Friday.
"He's not taking anything for granted at all," interior minister Grant Shapps, a supporter of Sunak, told BBC television. "He's speaking to colleagues throughout this morning. And of course, we'll be hoping to attract sufficient numbers to ensure that this can be put to bed."
Citi economist Benjamin Nabarro said he was sceptical that the government had the legitimacy to manage the current economic challenges. Its first task will be to present a budget, expected on Oct. 31, to plug a black hole in the public finances.
"Political machinations over the weekend point to a party beset with divisions. With party unity and legitimacy conspicuously threadbare, we expect a structural credibility gap to remain," Nabarro said.
PARTY UNITY
Investors have at least been given some reassurance that Johnson will not be fighting for the leadership again. The former prime minister - forced out of office by a ministerial rebellion earlier this year following a series of scandals - had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to see if he could enter the ballot.
He said on Sunday night that while he had secured sufficient support, he realised that he could not govern effectively "unless you have a united party in parliament".
Johnson has loomed large over British politics for years. He led his party to a landslide election victory in 2019 but was forced out of Downing Street less than three years later following a string of scandals.
"Boris has bottled it," the Metro newspaper said on its front page as many lawmakers questioned whether he had actually secured the backing of the necessary 100 lawmakers. By Sunday just more than 50 said publicly they would vote for Johnson.
Many of Johnson's supporters had previously accused Sunak of betrayal after he quit as finance minister in the summer, triggering the rebellion that forced Johnson out
Sunak first came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Britain, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns.
If chosen, the former Goldman Sachs analyst would be the United Kingdom's first prime minister of Indian origin.
His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain's former colonies arrived to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.
After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd. He also worked at Goldman Sachs as an analyst. (Reuters)
October
UK leadership contender Mordaunt "getting the numbers" - campaign spokesperson
Written by Nur Yasmin
Penny Mordaunt, one of two candidates to be Britain's next prime minister, is still in the leadership race and is gaining endorsements, a campaign spokesperson said on Monday.
“Penny is speaking to colleagues from across the party. She’s getting the numbers and she’s in it to win it," the spokesperson said in a statement. (Reuters)
October
Syrian refugees cling on in Turkey, Lebanon as fears over coerced returns grow
Written by Nur Yasmin
The first Syrian refugees in Lebanon to return home under a new repatriation scheme will leave on Wednesday, but few in worn-down camps in the central Bekaa Valley said they would sign up.
Rights groups fear the programme may not be as voluntary as it purports to be, at a time when concerns are growing about a policy of coercion they say is already in force in Turkey, where 3.6 million Syrians who have fled their country are registered.
"How are you supposed to go while there is a war?" said Manal, a 29-year-old Syrian woman eking out a precarious existence in a Bekaa Valley camp, where she is staying put.
This year, both host countries have ramped up pressure on refugees to leave.
In Lebanon, which is hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrians, President Michel Aoun – whose term ends on Oct. 31 – said its General Security agency would facilitate voluntary returns, reprising its role from 2018 in the repatriation of around 400,000 who had escaped the violence that followed the 2011 protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
It checked with authorities in Damascus if those individuals had any arrest warrants against them and then provided transportation across the border.
United Nations refugee agency UNHCR did not back that process but its representatives were on-site if refugees had questions, and may play the same role this time.
Amnesty International said it understood upcoming returns would take place through the same mechanism.
However, "Syria is not safe for returns," said the global rights group's Syria researcher Diana Semaan. It found that past returnees had been subject to rights violations including detention, torture, rape and forced disappearance.
General Security did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment.
But Semaan said it was unlikely that refugees indicating they wanted to return had accurate information on security and service provision in their hometowns.
Manal's home province Deir Ezzor, Syria's easternmost, has like much of the country been carved into slices by the warring parties.
Islamist militants carry out hit-and-run attacks there, while U.S.-backed Kurds control some areas and government-aligned militias others.
Manal lost her two sons to an air strike there several years ago. She fled to Lebanon with her two daughters and earns a little over $2 a day sorting scrapwood to sell for bonfires.
"It's easier to live this humiliating life than lose more people from my life. I'm not ready to lose my girls in the war,” she told Reuters.
'TERRIFIED TO GO OUT'
In Turkey, meanwhile, advocacy group Human Rights Watch on Monday accused authorities of arbitrarily detaining and deporting hundreds of Syrian refugees this year, in violation of the non-refoulement principle of not forcing asylum seekers back to a country where they may be persecuted.
It said Turkish authorities had arrested Syrians in streets, homes and workplaces, then beaten them, pushed them to sign documents claiming they were voluntarily returning, and forced them into Syria at gunpoint.
Some were from government-held zones but were pushed into rebel-held areas where clashes broke out this month.
Turkey's interior ministry declined to comment to Reuters.
The head of its Presidency for Migration Management, Savas Unlu told HRW their allegations were "baseless" and that Turkey complied with international migration law.
HRW researcher Nadia Hardman told Reuters that Syrian refugees in Turkey were now "terrified to go out – men in particular. They say that fear of running into checkpoints reminds them of Syria."
Muhanad, a 30-year-old Syrian living in Turkey, was detained for just under a week after authorities found him in a province other than the one where he registered for protected status.
After threatening to deport him to government-held parts of Syria, where he is wanted, authorities dumped him and three dozen other Syrians at a junkyard hours away from their homes.
Muhanad now avoids public transport so he is not detained again.
"If I'm not working I just sit at home, and it's wearing down my mental health," he told Reuters.
"I can't go back to Syria, but I can't stay here either." (Reuters)
October
Energy costs push Germany flash PMI to 29-month low - S&P Global
Written by Nur Yasmin
Germany's economic downturn deepened in October, the flash S&P Global composite purchasing managers' index showed on Monday as its reading fell to 44.1 from 45.7 in September, the lowest since May 2020, when the country was under a COVID lockdown.
High energy costs were a major factor, especially in manufacturing, where the rate of contraction was at its fastest in two-and-a-half years, though manufacturing was also hit by weaker demand, S&P Global said.
The flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 from 47.8 the month before.
"The flash PMI data show the downturn in German business activity gathering pace at the start of the fourth quarter, adding to the growing signs of an impending recession," said Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Germany's flash services PMI fell to 44.9 from 45.0. (Reuters)
October
Australia's Albanese, Japan's Kishida agree to strengthen security ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida agreed on Saturday to strengthen security ties between the two U.S. allies amid China's push for greater influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the annual Australia-Japan Leaders' Meeting, held in the Western Australia capital Perth, the two signed a security cooperation agreement updating a 2007 pact, to respond to a changed regional security environment.
As part of the bolstered security partnership, Albanese said Japan's military would train and exercise in northern Australia alongside Australian Defence Force personnel.
In their fourth summit since Albanese took office in May, they said the agreement would serve "as a compass" for security cooperation for the next decade. They agreed to consult and study responses to emergencies that could affect regional security.
Albanese and Kishida also discussed climate change, expressing support for a regional transition to net zero carbon emissions and boosting investment in clean energy tech.
"Both our countries are committed to net zero by 2050," Albanese told reporters after a signing ceremony.
Among those efforts, the leaders agreed to help build secure supply chains between the two nations for "critical minerals, including those that are required for building the green technologies of the future," Albanese said.
"This partnership will mean we build secure supply chains, promote investment, develop Australia's domestic sector and make sure Japan's advanced manufacturers have the critical minerals they need."
As well as building a framework for secure supply chains, the partnership would promote information sharing and collaboration, including research, investment and commercial arrangements between Japanese and Australian critical minerals projects, the Australian government said in a statement.
'PILLAR OF COOPERATION'
Kishida told reporters signing the updated joint security declaration was one of the largest achievements of his visit.
"I expressed my determination that all necessary options for the defence of our country, including the so-called counterstrike capability, would become contemplated and Japan's defence capability will be fundamentally reinforced in the next five years, which is supported by Anthony," he said.
The Japanese leader said the two nations had been working to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific under "an increasingly severe strategic environment".
"Through this experience, the bonds that tie Japan and Australia together have become much stronger. And our two countries have become the central pillar of cooperation among like-minded countries," he said.
Australia is a major supplier of iron ore, coal and gas to Japan. Locating the meeting in Perth, 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the national capital Canberra, was meant to showcase Western Australia's importance in supplying Japan's energy needs, including renewable energy. The state is also a key source of beef and wheat to Japan.
"Prime Minister Albanese told me Australia intends to remain as a reliable partner and a safe investment destination. We agreed to further bolster our cooperation in the areas of energy and natural resources," Kishida told reporters.
Stable energy supply is increasingly critical for resource-poor countries such as Japan, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has raised the risk of supply disruption.
Canberra and Tokyo recently bolstered security ties in response to China's growing military strength in the region. In May, Kishida and Albanese pledged to work toward a new bilateral declaration on security cooperation.
A previous joint declaration outlined security cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism and North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programmes. The two countries in 2014 elevated their relationship to a "Special Strategic Partnership". (Reuters)
October
Australia signs up to global pledge to cut methane emissions by 30%
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's climate change minister Chris Bowen on Sunday said the government has joined the Global Methane Pledge as part of multilateral efforts to reduce global methane emissions.
"By joining the Pledge, Australia will join the rest of the world's major agricultural commodity exporters including the United States, Brazil, and Indonesia in identifying opportunities to reduce emissions in this hard-to-abate sector," Bowen said in a statement.
The government will continue to partner with industry to decarbonise the economy, especially in energy and waste sectors, and capture waste methane to generate power, he said.
Government investment to assist the pledge will include up to A$3 billion ($1.91 billion) from a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to support low emissions technology and component manufacturing, and agricultural methane reduction, Bowen said.
The senior minister said the pledge would not require Australia to focus only on agriculture, or reduce agricultural production or livestock.
"As result of signing the Pledge, the Australian Government will not legislate or introduce taxes or levies to reduce livestock emissions," Bowen said.
The U.S.- and EU-led effort pledges to slash methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The effort now covers 60% of global gross domestic product and 30% of global methane emissions.
More than 100 countries have joined the push to cut emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, an initiative aimed at tackling one of the main causes of climate change.
"Canada, with a very similar economy to us, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand and the European Union are all signatories and it's appropriate that Australia joins," Bowen told reporters in Sydney. (Reuters)
October
South Korea expands corporate bond-buying program amid credit crunch concern
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's government will expand its corporate bond-buying program among other liquidity supply measures amid growing worries about a credit crunch in bond and short-term money markets.
The government will double the ceiling of its corporate bond-buying facility run by state-run banks to 16 trillion won ($11 billion), Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said on Sunday.
The measure is aimed at easing volatility and concern of tight liquidity in corporate bond and short-term money markets, Choo said after a meeting with top financial officials, including the central bank governor and regulatory chief.
Commercial paper issued by securities firms will be included in the facility's purchase list, while an additional 3 trillion won of liquidity will be supplied by the Korea Securities Finance Corp (KSECF.UL) for securities firms experiencing liquidity shortages, he said.
The Bank of Korea's monetary policy board will also consider its own measures, such as reactivating a special purpose vehicle to purchase corporate bonds and commercial paper first introduced during the pandemic, Governor Rhee Chang-yong told reporters.
But premises to macroeconomic monetary policy are unchanged as this issue is temporary and particular to the commercial paper market, he said.
There have been growing worries about signs of stress in South Korea's short-term money market, with the central bank having raised its policy interest rate (KROCRT=ECI) by 250 basis points since August last year from a record-low 0.5% to contain inflation.
The official end-of-day yield on 91-day commercial paper rose to 4.25% on Friday from 1.55% at the start of the year, with the spread over the central bank's policy rate (KROCRT=ECI) widening to 125 basis points from 48 basis points over the same period.
To help allay the situation, the Financial Services Commission on Thursday said it would delay by six months a plan to normalise requirements for banks to hold more liquid assets.
Also, South Korea's bond market stabilisation fund will resume buying corporate bonds and commercial paper worth up to 1.6 trillion won from Monday. (Reuters)
October
N.Korean leader congratulates Xi's reelection with hopes for 'more beautiful' ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un sent a congratulatory letter to Xi Jinping on his reelection as China's leader, saying he hoped to further develop their ties, state news agency KCNA reported on Sunday.
"The 20th Congress of the CPC offered a significant landmark for the Chinese party and people in propelling the historic process of the Chinese nation's great prosperity under the banner of the socialist idea with the Chinese characteristics in the new era," Kim said in the letter.
"I, together with you, will shape more a beautiful future of the DPRK-China relations meeting the demand of the times and lead the endeavours for its realisation so as to continue to powerfully propel the socialist cause in the two countries."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
China's Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term on Sunday and introduced a new top governing body stacked with loyalists, cementing his place as the country's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. (Reuters)