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September
Harris, Yoon condemn N.Korea's provocative nuclear rhetoric, missile launches - White House
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned North Korea's "provocative nuclear rhetoric" and reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the White House said on Thursday.
Harris landed in Seoul early on Thursday, just hours after North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
"They condemned the DPRK's provocative nuclear rhetoric and ballistic missile launches, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and they discussed our response to potential future provocations, including through trilateral cooperation with Japan," the White House said in a statement. (Reuters)
September
NZ foreign minister says superpowers must listen to needs of Pacific
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand's foreign minister said on Thursday that the United States and China should engage with the Pacific through the Pacific Islands Forum, and work to address the needs of the region.
Nanaia Mahuta said at the New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade select committee hearing that she had conveyed to the United States that it was important for them and any other superpower to engage with the Pacific using existing systems.
She added that reflecting on unsuccessful efforts by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to turn bilateral relations into a mulitilateral agreement showed the Pacific is starting to think about how it wants to see its security interests reflected.
I think it is not "altogether comfortable with either superpower," she said.
Although the United States has considered the Pacific its maritime backyard since World War Two, China's influence has been increasing in recent years. Some of the Pacific nations have complained about being caught in the middle of the superpowers' battle for influence.
The United States is holding a two-day summit with Pacific leaders that is focusing on issues such as climate change and health. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said that the U.S. and attending countries had agreed on "a declaration of partnership between the U.S. and the Pacific." read more
Mahuta said she had told partners of the Blue Pacific meeting that listening to Pacific nations and their needs is crucial.
"It's really important that we coordinate and collaborate in key areas that can help with the Pacific achieve its priorities," she added. (Reuters)
September
Pakistan court acquits former PM Sharif's daughter in graft case
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Pakistani court on Thursday quashed the conviction of Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in a corruption case that had seen her sentenced to seven years in jail, her party and defence lawyer said, lifting curbs on her contesting elections.
Maryam Nawaz is seen as the most influential politician in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party that has her uncle Shehbaz Sharif leading a coalition government at present.
Her father has presented her as his heir in politics.
A two-judge panel found there was no evidence to prove the prosecution case that Maryam Nawaz abetted any corruption in buying high-end apartments in London, the lawyer Amjad Pervaiz said.
She was convicted by an anti-graft court in 2018 along with her father who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for not being able to disclose a known source of income for buying the properties.
The prosecution had charged Maryam Nawaz with abetment for concealing information about the properties owned by her father.
She was on bail, and had appealed in the Islamabad High Court to overturn the conviction, which she and her party said was political victimization.
Under Pakistani law, a convicted politician is disqualified from contesting elections for five years.
"The lies have a shelf life, it could be some years, but it had to end, like it did today," Maryam Nawaz told reporters after the ruling. "I humbly thank God," she said.
Her father was thrown out of government in 2017 after he ran into serious differences with the powerful military, which, according to political analysts, mostly decides who will rule the 220 million strong South Asian nation.
The corruption cases had stemmed out of the Panama Papers document leak that listed the Avenfield properties in London owned by Sharif's family.
Sharif blamed his ousting on fabricated cases in the courts backed by the military.
The military denies these allegations. (Reuters)
September
India's top court legalises abortion regardless of marital status
Written by Nur Yasmin
India's top court on Thursday upheld the right of a woman to an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy regardless of marital status, a decision widely hailed by women's rights activists.
The right to abortion has proved contentious globally after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in June its landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that had legalised the procedure across the United States.
"Even an unmarried woman can undergo abortion up to 24 weeks on par with married women," said Justice D.Y. Chandrachud of India's Supreme Court, holding that a woman's marital status could not decide her right to abort.
A law dating from 1971, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, had limited the procedure to married women, divorcees, widows, minors, "disabled and mentally ill women" and survivors of sexual assault or rape.
"The decision to have or not to have an abortion is borne out of complicated life circumstances, which only the woman can choose on her own terms without external interference or influence," the court ruling said.
It added that every woman should have the "reproductive autonomy" to seek abortion, without consulting a third party.
Thursday's decision came in response to a petition by a woman who said her pregnancy resulted from a consensual relationship but she had sought abortion when the relationship failed.
The ruling is a milestone for the rights of Indian women, activists said.
"It is a first step, it is a progressive step," said Yogita Bhayana, founder of PARI (People Against Rapes in India).
The court added that sexual assault by husbands can be classified as marital rape under the MTP law. Indian law does not consider marital rape an offence, though efforts are being made to change this.
"In an era that includes Dobbs vs Jackson, and makes distinctions between the marital status of women who are raped, this excellent judgment on abortion under the MTP Act hits it out of the park," Karuna Nundy, an advocate specialising in gender law and other areas, said on Twitter.
She was referring to the case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court judgment in June. (Reuters)
September
U.S. to prioritize Pacific islands in contest with China
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States released its first strategy for ties with Pacific island nations on Thursday, the second day of a historic summit with leaders from the region, pledging to help them fight climate change and rebuff China's "economic coercion."
As President Joe Biden prepared to meet more than a dozen leaders and representatives from Pacific island states in Washington, the strategy paper said his administration was engaging more deeply with their countries a U.S. foreign policy priority.
Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific island states are taking part in the summit. They are being feted around Washington and on Thursday their itinerary will include lunch at the U.S. Congress, an afternoon meeting with Biden and dinner at the White House.
Biden's administration has pledged "big-dollar" assistance for the island countries to address climate, health, and maritime security issues – such as illegal fishing – and to boost communications links with U.S. partners like Japan, Australia and India.
A senior administration official said that among key deliverables from the summit, the United States would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the islands, on top of over $1.5 billion provided in the past decade.
The official also said Biden would designate career diplomat Frankie Reed as the first U.S. envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Washington Post reported earlier that all the visiting leaders had endorsed an 11-point statement of vision committing to joint endeavors, and a U.S. official told Reuters that was accurate.
An unsigned draft of that declaration seen by Reuters said the leaders resolved to strengthen their partnership and shared a vision for region where "democracy will be able to flourish."
The summit marks the first time the United States has hosted so many leaders of a region it has considered it maritime backyard since World War Two, but into which China made steady advances.
Some of the nations have complained about being caught in the middle of the superpowers' battle for influence.
The U.S. strategy document says the United States would partner with Pacific islands to help them adapt to and manage the climate crisis, an "existential threat" to their lives, health, and livelihoods.
It said the region also faced challenges to security and sovereignty, and added: "The Biden-Harris Administration will work in partnership with Pacific governments and people to ensure they have the autonomy and security to advance their own interests."
As part of the plan, the United States would increase its diplomatic and defense presence in the region, seek to help counter marine pollution, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, and seaport security, collaborate with partners on submarine cable upgrades, and promote "secure and trusted" telecommunications partnerships.
"Doing so requires a substantial increase in the overall U.S. diplomatic presence and engagement in the region through new embassies, additional personnel from across the U.S. government, and enhanced U.S. Coast Guard and defense engagements," the strategy said.
That would include returning U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu this year and exploring missions in other countries, it said.
The United States also committed to increasing trade and investment with Pacific islands, and said it would support democracy, human rights, and good governance, including by building capacity within the private sector, media, academia, and civil society.
Washington this year vowed to open three new embassies in the region - in Kiribati, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands.
Strategic competition in the Pacific intensified dramatically this year after China signed a security agreement with the Solomons, prompting warnings of militarization of the region.
Derek Grossman, an Indo-Pacific analyst at the RAND Corporation, said Washington had let ties with the region languish for decades, but that had begun to change in recent years and the summit was a sign of that.
"We are still all working from, generally speaking, the same sheet of music, which is we don't want the Chinese establishing a military foothold in the region, and we don't want them, corrupting the institutions of the region," he said. (Reuters)
September
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off east coast, South says
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea's military said, following the firing of two short-range ballistic missiles a day earlier and one on Sunday.
"South Korean military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from Sunchon, South Pyongan province, toward the east coast between 8:48 p.m. and 8:57 p.m. ... Amid strengthened surveillance and vigilance, our military maintains full preparedness while working closely with the U.S.," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The launch came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris ended a visit to South Korea, during which she was strongly critical of the reclusive nation.
The military did not give details of the travel range, height and speed of the missiles.
South Korea and its allies are concerned that the North is about to conduct a nuclear test – which would be the seventh since 2006 and its first since 2017. South Korean lawmakers briefed by the country's spy agency said on Wednesday the North has completed preparations for a nuclear test and a possible window for carrying it out could come between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7. (Reuters)
September
Italy behind schedule in using EU COVID funds, Treasury data shows
Written by Nur Yasmin
Italy will spend around 13 billion euros ($12.62 billion) less this year in European post-COVID recovery funds than it previously targeted, a Treasury document showed, underscoring the country's problems in implementing investment programmes.
The euro zone's third largest economy is eligible for around 191.5 billion euros in grants and cheap loans from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) designed to help the bloc's 27 countries recover from the pandemic.
The Treasury's annual Economic and Financial Document (DEF), seen by Reuters but not yet published, said almost 21 billion of 191.5 billion would be spent by the end of this year, leaving a further 170 billion still to be invested through 2026.
The latest estimate compares with a previous goal of 33.7 billion euros which was made in April, according to the DEF.
In recent years, Italy has consistently underperformed its European partners on using financial help from Brussels. It managed to spend only half its regular EU funds in the last budget cycle, the second lowest share after Spain.
In the introduction to the DEF document, Economy Minister Daniele Franco said the downward revision was due to the delayed launch of some public works, hurt by surging raw materials prices.
Early this year Prime Minister Mario Draghi earmarked more than 10 billion euros through 2026 to help construction firms cope with sky-high energy bills and other costs exacerbated by the Ukraine war, in an attempt to avoid delays.
As long ago as April the Treasury admitted that spending was going slower than planned, and accordingly cut its estimate of the growth impact of the EU funds and the reforms it must implement to obtain them.
The Treasury believes it can make up for lost ground and in the DEF it raises its estimate for spending the EU funds in 2023 by 12 billion euros.
"The most recent update of the public expenditure projections significantly reduces the estimate for 2022, but correspondingly increases the projections in the final years of the plan," the Treasury said.
Rome has so far secured almost 67 billion euros of EU funds by meeting the policy "targets and milestones" agreed with Brussels. Some 46 billion have already been received.
It is eligible for a further 19 billion euros at the end of the years provided it can complete the 55 targets and milestones set for the second half of 2022. (Reuters)
September
Ukrainian presidential adviser denounces 'Kremlin freak show'
Written by Nur Yasmin
A political adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Thursday a ceremony at which Russia plans to annex Ukrainian territory on Friday "does not make legal sense" and denounced what he called a Kremlin freak show.
"'Kremlin freak show'. The announced 'entrance ceremony' does not make any legal sense. Non-existent entities cannot enter a country which is disintegrating. Do not waste time on the virtual ru-agenda. Real life will be more interesting: counteroffensive, de-occupation, tribunal," Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
September
EXCLUSIVE Afghan Taliban sign deal for Russian oil products, gas and wheat
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Taliban have signed a provisional deal with Russia to supply gasoline, diesel, gas and wheat to Afghanistan, Acting Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters.
Azizi said his ministry was working to diversify its trading partners and that Russia had offered the Taliban administration a discount to average global commodity prices.
The move, the first known major international economic deal struck by the Taliban since they returned to power more than a year ago, could help to ease the Islamist movement's isolation that has effectively cut it off from the global banking system.
No country formally recognises the group, which fought a 20-year insurgency against Western forces and their local Afghan allies before sweeping into Kabul as U.S. troops withdrew.
Western diplomats have said the group needs to change its course on human rights, particularly those of women, and prove it has cut ties with international militant groups in order to gain formal recognition.
Russia does not officially recognise the Taliban's government, but Moscow hosted leaders of the movement in the run-up to the fall of Kabul and its embassy is one of only a handful to remain open in the Afghan capital.
Azizi said the deal would involve Russia supplying around one million tonnes of gasoline, one million tonnes of diesel, 500,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and two million tonnes of wheat annually.
On Wednesday, Russia's state-owned TASS news agency quoted Moscow's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, as confirming that "preliminary agreements" had been reached on fuel and food supplies to Kabul.
Russia's energy and agriculture ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the agreement. The office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is in charge of oil and gas, also did not immediately respond.
Azizi said the agreement would run for an unspecified trial period, after which both sides were expected to sign a longer term deal if they were content with the arrangement.
He declined to give details on pricing or payment methods, but said Russia had agreed to a discount to global markets on goods that would be delivered to Afghanistan by road and rail.
The deal was finalised after an Afghan technical team spent several weeks in discussions in Moscow, having stayed on after Azizi visited there last month.
ECONOMY IN CRISIS
Since the Taliban regained power, Afghanistan has been plunged into economic crisis after development aid upon which the country relied was cut and amid sanctions that have largely frozen the banking sector.
The trade deal is likely to be watched closely in the United States, whose officials have held regular talks with the Taliban on plans for the country's banking system.
Washington has announced the creation of a Swiss trust fund for some of the Afghan central bank reserves held in the United States. The Taliban have demanded the release of the entire amount of around $7 billion and said the funds should be used for central bank operations.
Azizi said international data showed most Afghans were living below the poverty line, and his office was working to support trade and the economy through international outreach.
"Afghans are in great need," he said. "Whatever we do, we do it based on national interest and the people's benefit."
He said Afghanistan also received some gas and oil from Iran and Turkmenistan and had strong trade ties with Pakistan, but also wanted to diversify.
"A country ... shouldn't be dependent on just one country, we should have alternative ways," he said.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations are trying to find ways to limit Russia's oil export earnings in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Moscow has managed to maintain revenues through increased crude sales to Asia, particularly China and India. The European Union will ban Russian crude imports by Dec. 5 and Russian oil products by Feb. 5. (Reuters)
September
South Korea sees Oct.16-Nov.7 window for N.Korea nuclear test
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea has completed preparations for a nuclear test and a possible window for carrying it out could be between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7, South Korean lawmakers briefed by its spy agency said on Wednesday.
Preparations for a possible nuclear test by North Korea, which would be the first since 2017, had been completed at the Punggye-ri test tunnel, where the reclusive state conducted six underground tests from 2006 onward, two legislators told reporters after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
The timing of the test could be determined by events like the party congress in China, North Korea's main ally, and the midterm elections in the United States, its chief rival, they said. Also it would depend on whether Pyongyang can bring an outbreak of COVID-19 under control, they said.
"The NIS said they cannot calculate the probability but assumed that North Korea would make a comprehensive decision based on international relations and its COVID situation," said one legislator, Youn Kun-young.
The other lawmaker, Yoo Sang-bum, said the NIS sees North Korea's earlier claim of an end to COVID-19 as "unreliable" because it has repeatedly locked down and then reopened areas near the Chinese border where "mass vaccinations" are underway.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared victory over COVID-19 and eased some restrictions last month, though the country has never confirmed how many people caught the virus, apparently lacking the means to conduct widespread testing.
Early this month, Kim suggested that the isolated country could begin COVID-19 vaccinations in November, warning of a resurgence in outbreaks as levels of immunity formed from previous infections decline around October. (Reuters)