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September
North Korea, China resume cross-border freight train operation after COVID closures
Written by Nur Yasmin
Cross-border freight train operations between North Korea and China has resumed, Beijing said on Monday, ending a five-month suspension to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed reports out of South Korea that China and North Korea had decided to resume cross-border freight train traffic that had been suspended in April due to the pandemic.
Both sides will continue to step up coordination and ensure the safe and stable operation of freight transportation, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular media briefing.
The comments from the ministry came after South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that a freight train from Dandong crossed a bridge to the North Korean city of Sinuiju. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, had also reported the resumption of train traffic.
Train crossings had been on hold since April 29, when China suspended services with North Korea following consultations due to COVID-19 infections in its border city of Dandong. Shortly after, North Korea reported its first COVID outbreak, which it now says has ended.
The April suspension came less than four months after North Korea eased border lockdowns enforced early in 2020 against the coronavirus. North Korea turned a former airport near the border with China into a massive quarantine centre, where commercial satellite imagery has shown imported goods sitting for months.
Global aid groups have blamed the border measures for North Korea's worsening economic woes and risks to food supplies for millions.
Last month leader Kim Jong Un declared victory over COVID and ordered the lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May, though adding that North Korea must maintain a "steel-strong anti-epidemic barrier".
North Korea has never confirmed how many people caught COVID, apparently because it lacks the means to conduct widespread testing, and experts have cast doubt on its numbers. (Reuters)
September
Home to 28,000 U.S. troops, South Korea unlikely to avoid a Taiwan conflict
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tensions over Taiwan have raised the thorny issue of whether U.S. troops based in South Korea would be involved in any conflict, with American and South Korean officials acknowledging that the peninsula could easily be dragged into a crisis.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told CNN in an interview aired on Sunday that his country was keen to work with the United States to “expand freedom”, but that in a conflict over Taiwan, North Korea would be more likely to stage a provocation and that the alliance should focus on that first.
North Korea has a mutual defence treaty with China and military analysts suggest it could coordinate with Beijing or take advantage of a crisis to pursue its own military goals.
Last week U.S. President Joe Biden said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, drawing an angry response from China and raising the stakes for U.S. allies that host American troops in the region.
China is South Korea's largest economic partner, and Seoul could find itself on the literal front lines of any regional military conflict.
North Korea has backed China's claims over Taiwan, and accused Washington of trying to build an "Asian NATO" that would import crises like the one in Ukraine to Asia.
Yoon has vowed to forge closer ties with the United States, which has had a mutual defence treaty with South Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War and stations around 28,500 troops in the country.
But when asked whether South Korea will help the United States if China attacks Taiwan, Yoon did not directly answer.
Last week the commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), General Paul LaCamera, said it was prudent to plan for all possibilities.
"What begins in one region spreads very quickly within the region and around the world," LaCamera told a seminar hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) on Tuesday.
South Korean troops fought alongside Americans in Vietnam and supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but questions of future involvement are up to South Korea alone, LaCamera said.
In response, South Korean Vice Defence Minister Shin Beom-chul told broadcaster MBC that there had been no such discussions between Washington and Seoul.
"I can tell our citizens that we will ensure consultations would not move in a direction that undermines security on the Korean Peninsula," he said.
A USFK spokesman referred questions about its role in any regional conflict to the Indo-Pacific Command and the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond.
South Korea's Ministry of Defence also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Privately, many South Korean military officials expect they could once again face off against China, with memories of Beijing's intervention on the side of the North in the Korean War, said one former South Korean general.
"They absolutely do not trust China, it's something they feel in their bones," he said.
'STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY'
In his confirmation hearing last year, LaCamera said he would seek to integrate USFK into "operational plans supporting U.S. interests and objectives in the region".
In 2006, amid Washington's push to mobilise forces for the "war on terror", Seoul agreed to "strategic flexibility" under which it would "understand", but not necessarily support, the deployment of USFK units to other locations, as long as it is consulted, said Sungmin Cho, a professor at the Pentagon's Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Hawaii.
"(It's) still ambiguous," he said. "This needs to be talked out between Seoul and Washington."
Cho said North Korea could support China in a Taiwan conflict by launching an attack on South Korea, or simply use the conflict as a chance to push forward with its nuclear or missile development.
USFK is heavily focused on land-based troops, which would be of limited use in a conflict that remains focused around the Taiwan Straight, said former General Park Cheol-kyun, who worked on international policy at South Korea's Defense Ministry until May.
"You need the navy, air force, and intelligence assets, so most of the U.S. forces that could contain or deter Chinese provocation, are mostly in Japan," he said, but added that the U.S.-South Korea alliance can't afford to ignore China's role in the region. (Reuters)
September
Kremlin says Russia and U.S. have 'sporadic' contact over nuclear weapons
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Kremlin said on Monday it was in "sporadic" contact with the United States on issues related to nuclear arms, days after President Vladimir Putin said he was "not bluffing" over his readiness to use such weapons if Russia felt its territorial integrity was under threat.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two sides had maintained a limited open channel of dialogue to allow for the "emergency exchange of messages" between the world's two largest nuclear powers.
"There are channels for dialogue at the proper level, but they are of a very sporadic nature. At least they allow for the exchange of some emergency messages about each other's positions," Peskov told reporters.
Putin said last week Moscow would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to "protect Russia and our people" as he announced a mobilisation drive that threatens to significantly escalate the seven-month conflict in Ukraine.
The United States warned Moscow on Sunday of "catastrophic consequences" if it uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States would "respond decisively" if Russia deploys such weapons against its neighbour. He did not elaborate publicly, but said Washington had privately told Moscow "in greater detail exactly what that would mean."
Peskov declined to comment when asked what the United States had told Russia it meant by "catastrophic consequences." (Reuters)
September
U.S., Britain seek U.N. human rights debate on China's Xinjiang
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States, Britain and other countries are calling for a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslims in the farwestern region of Xinjiang, a document showed and diplomats said on Monday.
The move, which needs a majority vote to pass in the deeply divided Geneva council, would be the first time that alleged abuses by powerful permanent Security Council member China featured on the U.N. right's body's agenda in its 16-year history.
Intense diplomatic discussions have been ongoing on the sidelines of the council meeting since a much-anticipated U.N. report last month stipulated that "serious human rights violations have been committed" in Xinjiang that may amount to crimes against humanity.
China vigorously denies any abuses and has sent a government delegation to Geneva to counter what it claims are erroneous findings by the U.N. rights office and says it is "ready for the fight" if action is taken against it.
A spokesperson at China's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The so-called "draft decision" reviewed by Reuters is so far backed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, diplomats said. It seeks a debate during the council's next session that begins in February.
China might seek to dismiss it with a no action motion.
The 47-member council is split over the allegations against China which has deep economic ties with many developing countries and is seeking their support.
The Western-led call for a debate is seen as a less confrontational option than a resolution which could have sought a Xinjiang probe, although this could be raised later.
Uyghurs held protests outside the U.N. Geneva office last week calling for action next to the photographs of those they say are being detained.
"My ask is clear to the international community – I ask you to intervene," said Gulbahar Haitiwaji, a former Uyghur detainee who spent three years in internment camps. "I implore you to save us from this tyranny."
China has been seeking to rally support against any Western-led action, although initial efforts fell short of expectations, with so far fewer than 10 voting members of the council backing a statement criticising the UN rights report. (Reuters)
September
Hungary PM Orban says EU sanctions on Russia have "backfired"
Written by Nur Yasmin
Hungary should prepare for a prolonged war in neighbouring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday, sharply criticising European Union sanctions imposed on Russia which he said were driving up energy prices.
Orban said the EU sanctions have "backfired" and it was no surprise that governments were falling in Europe, referring to the Italian election on Sunday where Giorgia Meloni looks set to become Italy's first woman prime minister at the head of its most right-wing government since World War Two. (Reuters)
September
U.N. food agency says debris from drone strike hit truck in northern Ethiopia
Written by Nur Yasmin
Debris from a drone strike in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region hit a World Food Programme truck carrying humanitarian aid and injured the driver, a WFP spokesperson said on Monday.
WFP, a United Nations agency, helps coordinate humanitarian assistance to Tigray, where a nearly two-year conflict has killed thousands of people and left millions in need of aid.
The drone strike on Sunday hit near an area called Zana Woreda in northwestern Tigray, the WFP spokesperson told Reuters.
"Flying debris from the strike injured a driver contracted by WFP and caused minor damage to a WFP fleet truck," the spokesperson said, adding it was not possible to say yet whether further distributions would be suspended in the area.
Two humanitarian workers, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that food distribution operations by another aid agency had been disrupted by shelling in Tigray.
Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister's spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, did not respond to requests for comment.
The WFP truck was delivering food to internally displaced people. Hundreds of thousands have been uprooted by renewed fighting since Aug. 24, when a five-month ceasefire broke down, humanitarian sources say.
Since then, no truck carrying food aid has entered Tigray, the WFP said.
It says an estimated 13 million people in Tigray and the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar are in "desperate need of food assistance".
The conflict pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs Tigray and used to dominate Ethiopia's ruling coalition.
The government accuses the TPLF of trying to reassert Tigrayan dominance over Ethiopia. The TPLF accuses Abiy of over-centralising power and oppressing Tigrayans. (Reuters)
September
Iran accuses U.S. of trying to use unrest to undermine country
Written by Nur Yasmin
Iran accused the United States on Monday of using unrest triggered by the death of a woman in police custody to try to destabilise the country, and warned it would not go unanswered, as the biggest protests since 2019 showed no signs of abating.
Iran has cracked down on nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after she was detained by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress.
The case has drawn international condemnation. Iran said the United States was supporting rioters and seeking to destabilise the Islamic Republic.
"Washington is always trying to weaken Iran's stability and security although it has been unsuccessful," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told Nour news, which is affiliated with a top security body, in a statement.
On his Instagram page, Kanaani accused the leaders of the United States and some European countries of abusing a tragic incident in support of "rioters" and ignoring "the presence of millions of people in the streets and squares of the country in support of the system".
Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador in Berlin on Monday over the crackdown, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Asked about the possibility of further sanctions on Tehran in response to the unrest, the spokesperson said "we will consider all options" with other European Union states.
Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran's morality police over allegations of abuse of Iranian women, saying it held the unit responsible for the death of Amini.
Iran summoned the British and Norwegian ambassadors on Sunday over what it called interference and hostile media coverage of the unrest.
The anti-government protests are the largest to sweep the country since demonstrations over fuel prices in 2019, when Reuters reported 1,500 people were killed in a crackdown on protesters - the bloodiest bout of internal unrest in the Islamic Republic's history.
At least 41 people have been killed in the latest unrest that started on Sept. 17, according to state TV.
President Ebrahim Raisi has said Iran ensures freedom of expression and that he has ordered an investigation into Amini's death.
STRIKE CALL
A main Iranian teachers' union, in a statement posted on social media on Sunday, called for teachers and students to stage the first national strike since the unrest began, on Monday and Wednesday.
Women have played a prominent role in the protests, waving and burning their veils.
In a video circulating on social media, the sister of a man killed in the anti-government demonstrations, Javad Heydari, cut her hair on his grave in defiance of Iran's conservative Islamic dress code. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video.
The state has organised rallies in an attempt to defuse the crisis.
Although the demonstrations over Amini's death are a major challenge to the government, analysts see no immediate threat to the country's leaders because Iran's elite security forces have stamped out protests in the past.
Iran has blamed armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in the unrest, particularly in the northwest where most of Iran's up to 10 million Kurds live.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched an artillery and drone attack on Iranian militant opposition bases in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. (reuters)
September
In Syrian north, women protest over death of Iran's Amini
Written by Nur Yasmin
Hundreds of women protested in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria on Monday over the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of Iran's morality police, with some cutting their hair and burning headscarves in an echo of demonstrations in Iran.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died earlier this month after being arrested in Tehran by police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress. Her death has touched off Iran's biggest unrest since 2019.
Protesters held aloft pictures of Amini as they marched through a street in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli.
"She was subjected to brutal treatment by the Iranian tyrants. We don't accept this insult to any woman in society," said Sawsan Hussein, 52, an employee of the Kurdish-led administration who was at the protest.
Amini's father has said she had no health problems and that she suffered bruises to her legs in custody and holds the police responsible for her death.
Iranian police have denied harming her, saying she fell ill as she waited with other detained women. Iran's foreign ministry on Monday accused the united states of using the protests to try to destabilise the Islamic Republic.
Kurdish groups have controlled swathes of north and northeastern Syria since the early days of the Syrian civil war, establishing autonomy as President Bashar al-Assad - an ally of Iran - sought to put down rebellions elsewhere in Syria.
"We support the protests and uprisings in Iran," said Arwa al-Saleh, a member of the Kongra Star women's rights organisation that called for the protest. "No to injustice, no to oppression ... yes to women's rights," she said.
Women have played a prominent role in the demonstrations in Iran, waving and burning their veils, with some publicly cutting their hair in a direct challenge to clerical leaders. Iran's Kurdistan province is one of the region's swept by unrest.
The Kurdish ethnic minority live mostly in a region straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.
Dozens of people protested over Amini's death on Sunday in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Suli. Last week, one of Iraq's main Kurdish leaders - Masoud Barzani - called her family to pay condolences. (Reuters)
September
Australia climate inaction violated Torres Strait Islanders' rights, U.N. says
Written by Nur Yasmin
A United Nations committee found on Friday that Australia had violated the human rights of a group of islanders off its north coast by failing to adequately protect them from the impacts of climate change, such as by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The complaint, filed over three years ago by eight Torres Strait Islanders and their children, is one of a growing body of climate cases being brought around the world on human rights grounds, and the ruling is expected to embolden others.
Rising sea levels have already damaged food sources and ancestral burial sites, scattering human remains, the islanders argued, saying their homes are at risk of being submerged.
"I know that our ancestors are rejoicing knowing that Torres Strait Islander voices are being heard throughout the world through this landmark case," said Yessie Mosby, a Kulkalgal man and Traditional Owner on the island of Masig who is a claimant in the case. "This win gives us hope that we can protect our island homes, culture and traditions for our kids and future generations to come," he said.
Environmental charity ClientEarth working with the claimants said it was the first legal action brought by climate-vulnerable inhabitants of small islands against a nation state, setting several precedents.
The Committee said Australia had violated two of the three human rights set out in a U.N. Treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), pertaining to culture and family life, but not article 6 on the right to life.
It called for Australia to provide the islanders with an effective remedy.
Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in emailed comments to Reuters that the government was working with the islanders on climate change and stressed that the case predated the current administration.
"The Australian Government is considering the Committee's views and will provide its response in due course," he added.
Torres Strait Islanders are part of Australia's indigenous population, along with Aboriginal people, who live on small clusters of low-lying islands dotted between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The case was filed when the former conservative government, seen as a laggard in the battle against climate change, was in power. Since then, parliament has passed legislation on emissions cuts and Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has visited the islands this year.
Some 173 of the 193 U.N. Member States have ratified the Covenant, including Australia. There is no enforcement mechanism but there are follow-up steps, and states generally comply with the committee's findings. (Reuters)
September
Pakistan debt relief requests won't include commercial creditors
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan's finance minister said on Friday the South Asian nation was seeking debt relief from bilateral creditors in the wake of devastating flooding but emphasised the government would not seek any relief from commercial banks or Eurobond creditor.
Pakistan's bonds had slumped to just half their face value throughout the day after the Financial Times said a United Nations development agency was urging the cash-strapped country to restructure its debt.
Devastating floods engulfed large swathes of Pakistan this month, killing more than 1,500 people and causing damage estimated at $30 billion, fanning fears that Pakistan would not meet its debts.
"Given the climate-induced disaster in Pakistan, we are seeking debt relief from bilateral Paris Club creditors," Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in a Tweet. "We are neither seeking, nor do we need, any relief from commercial banks or Eurobond creditors."
A memorandum the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)is set to hand Pakistan's government this week says its creditors should consider debt relief in the wake of the floods, according to the Financial Times.
The memorandum further proposed debt restructuring or swaps, in which creditors would forego some repayments in exchange for Pakistan's agreement to invest in climate change-resilient infrastructure, the paper said.
Neither the foreign office in Islamabad or a UNDP spokesperson in Pakistan immediately responded to Reuters' request for comment on the memorandum. The country's finance and information ministers could also not be reached.
The bond market reaction on Friday strengthened fears of another default by Pakistan, hammering its international market government debt.
One of the main sovereign bonds due for repayment in 2024 slumped more than 10 cents to about 50 cents on the dollar , while another due in 2027 fell to about 45 cents. .
Miftah Ismail had told a Reuters interview earlier this week that there was no chance of a credit default risk.
The government needs to pay $1 billion on bonds maturing in December. It has interest payments worth around $0.6 billion for the 2022-23 fiscal year but the next full bond redemption is not until April 2024.
Miftah said in Friday's Tweet that the $1 billion bond would be paid on time and in full.
DEBT RELIEF
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also appealed on Friday to rich nations for immediate debt relief, saying what had been done was commendable, but adding, "It's far from meeting our needs."
Sharif, who along with Ismail is in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, told Bloomberg TV that Pakistan had taken up the debt relief issue with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and world leaders.
"We have spoken to European leaders and other leaders to help us in Paris club, to get us a moratorium," he said, referring to rich nation creditors.
Sharif and finance minister Ismail said they had also taken up the relief issue with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Ismail said the IMF has "almost agreed" to the request for easing the conditions of Pakistan's $7 billion programme that was resumed in July after being delayed for months.
"They've said almost yes," he told local Pakistani Dunya News TV in New York a day after Sharif met the IMF's managing director.
The IMF's representative in Islamabad didn't respond to a request for comment.
The country of 220 million would not be able to stand on its feet, Sharif added, "unless we get substantial relief".
He said Pakistan would also seek relief from long-time ally China, to which it owes about 30% of its external debt.
Both Pakistan's government and Guterres have blamed the flooding on climate change. (Reuters)