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August
NASA game planned contingencies for space station as Russian alliance continued-sources
Written by Nur Yasmin
NASA and the White House have since late last year quietly drawn up contingency plans for the International Space Station in light of tensions with Moscow that began building before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to nine people with knowledge of the plans.
The U.S. space agency's game planning shows how the U.S. is juggling its relationship with Russia, a crucial ally on the international space station project, which also involves such corporate names as Boeing(BA.N), SpaceX and Northrup Grumman(NOC.N).
At risk is a two-decade old alliance NASA has sought to preserve as one of the few remaining links of civil cooperation between the two superpowers.
The plans drafted by U.S. officials laid out ways to pull all astronauts off the station if Russia were to abruptly leave, keep it running without crucial hardware provided by the Russian space agency, and potentially dispose of the orbital laboratory years earlier than planned, according to three of the sources, all of whom asked not to be identified.
While NASA and White House officials have acknowledged the existence of contingency plans before, they have avoided discussing them in public to avoid inflaming tensions with Russia. NASA officials instead stress the close relationship they have with Russia's space agency, Roscosmos.
"We are very committed, obviously, to us continuing this relationship," NASA's space operations chief Kathy Lueders said in an interview last week. "We need to make sure, though, that we do have plans. We're NASA. We always have contingencies."
The ISS was designed more than two decades ago to be technically interdependent between NASA and Roscosmos. NASA provides gyroscopes for the space station's balance and solar arrays for electricity, and Roscosmos controls the propulsion that keeps the football field-sized laboratory in orbit.
Multiple space companies have been pulled into the planning, with Boeing, one of the station's key private contractors, assigning a team of engineers to examine ways to control the space station without Russia's thrusters, one of the sources said.
In recent weeks, NASA has worked on drafting a formal request to contractors for ways to deorbit the space station earlier than planned in case Russia withdraws from the alliance, two of the sources said. Russia manages the station's thrusters from Moscow, playing a key role in steering the station into the Earth's atmosphere at the end of its life.
Russian news agencies last week quoted the newly appointed space chief, Yuri Borisov, saying the country had no set date for its withdrawal from the ISS but any pullout would be made "in strict accordance with our obligations." The station's intergovernmental agreement requires any partner to give a one-year notice of intent to leave.
Roscosmos could not immediately be reached to comment on Thursday.
NASA told Reuters that Roscosmos asked two years ago if the U.S. space agency could provide a spacecraft to aid in that deorbiting process.
NASA otherwise declined to address specific contingency plans it is considering, but said it is "continually looking for new capabilities on the space station and planning for a seamless transition to commercially operated destinations in low-Earth orbit."
The agency has an effort to seed development of private space stations that could succeed the ISS after its planned end date of 2030.
THRUSTER CONTROL
NASA's contingency planning has centered largely on controlling the station without Russia's thrusters, the sources said.
In one demonstration in June, Northrop Grumman for the first time used a modified version of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to alter the space station's orbit while berthed, successfully demonstrating a potential alternative to Russia's thrusters.
All future Cygnus capsules will be capable of those reboosts should NASA request it, a Northrop spokeswoman said. The test was part of a NASA effort that began in 2018, but was accelerated amid increasing tensions, the sources said.
Meanwhile, SpaceX, the private spacecraft company founded by Tesla(TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk, has also been studying similar reboost capabilities, two of the sources said. SpaceX's Dragon capsule ferries cargo and astronauts to and from the space station.
NASA's contingency planning with the White House began in late 2021 as U.S. relations with Russia deteriorated, four U.S. officials said.
It also came after Russia's Ministry of Defense in November tested an antisatellite weapon by destroying a defunct satellite, creating a debris field near the ISS that forced astronauts into shelter, the sources said.
Nevertheless, senior officials from both space agencies have reaffirmed the alliance in space.
"It's been hugely beneficial to U.S. science, to U.S. technology, U.S. advancement of our space program, and so it is in the U.S. national security interest," Rose Gottemoeller, former U.S. President Bill Clinton's national security advisor on Russian and Eurasian affairs, said of the relationship on the ISS with Russia.
"Even following this horrible and violent invasion of Ukraine, we've been able to sustain it because it's beneficial for us, as it's beneficial for the Russians," added Goettemoeller, who played a key role in forging the U.S.-Russian space station alliance in 1993.
Underscoring the still strong relationship between the two space agencies, the sources said a small team of NASA officials met their Russian counterparts in Moscow in early July to finalize a long-sought agreement for sharing astronaut flights to the ISS, a capability NASA sees as key to having a backup ride to the station.
The agreement, announced July 15, allows Russian cosmonauts to fly on U.S.-made spacecraft in exchange for American astronauts being able to ride on Russia's Soyuz capsules. The first Russian cosmonaut under the agreement, Anna Kikina, is set to launch aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon from Florida in September.
And NASA is in talks with Roscosmos, along with the station's other partners, including Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, to extend the ISS alliance's current formal end date another six years to 2030.
While political tensions are a key driver of the contingency plans, observers of Russia's space program also point to that agency's financial pressures.
Last week, Roscosmos chief Borisov cited Russian engineers' predictions that an "avalanche" of technical problems could occur on the ISS after 2024 and he said the cost to maintain the Russian segment beyond that date would be "huge." He added it was "economically expedient" for Russia to explore building its own space station. (Reuters)
August
Iran nuclear talks resume with both sides playing down prospects
Written by Nur Yasmin
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington resumed in Vienna with a meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the EU's Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks aimed at salvaging a 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian state media reported on Thursday.
Both Tehran and Washington have played down the prospect of a breakthrough in this round of talks, while the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned there is no room left for further major compromises.
As Iran refuses to hold direct talks with the United States, Mora will shuttle between Ali Bagheri Kani and U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley, who tweeted on Wednesday he was heading to Vienna with his expectations "in check".
Signalling little flexibility to resolve remaining thorny issues, Bagheri Kani put the onus on the White House to compromise, saying in a tweet the United States should "show maturity & act responsibly".
Little remains of the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. But then-President Donald Trump ditched the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions.
In response, Tehran breached the deal in several ways including by rebuilding stocks of enriched uranium.
After 11 months of indirect talks in Vienna between Tehran and President Joe Biden's administration, however, the broad outline of a revived deal was essentially agreed in March.
But talks then broke down, chiefly because of Tehran’s demand that Washington remove its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) from a U.S. terrorism list and the U.S. refusal to do so.
To overcome the impasse, Borrell in July proposed a new draft text, which two Iranian officials said Tehran "was not happy" with it.
"Iran has shown enough flexibility. Now it is up to Biden to make a decision. We have our own suggestions that will be discussed in the Vienna talks, such as lifting sanctions on the Guards gradually," a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Other points of contention include Tehran's demand that Washington provide guarantees that no U.S. president would abandon the deal as Trump did. But Biden cannot promise this because the 2015 pact is a non-binding political understanding, not a legally-binding treaty.
"If they want to revive the pact, Washington should secure Iran's economic benefits and not only until the end of Biden's term," said a second Iranian official.
Tehran also insists the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drop its claims about Tehran's nuclear work, objecting to last year's assertion by the U.N. nuclear watchdog that Tehran had failed to fully explain uranium traces at undeclared sites. (Reuters)
August
China foreign minister walks out moments before ASEAN meeting gala dinner
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi walked out before the start of a gala dinner of foreign ministers at a meeting in Cambodia on Thursday and was seen leaving the venue in a vehicle, witnesses said.
Wang Yi waved to media as he entered a holding room for the dinner then walked out of the venue, without giving a reason, according to Reuters journalists. Two witnesses working at the venue told Reuters Wang Yi was seen leaving in a vehicle.
The dinner was attended by more than a dozen foreign ministers including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan's Yoshimasa Hayashi, and senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (Reuters)
August
Zelenskiy says he would like to see China join countries opposed to Russia
Written by Nur Yasmin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that China was balancing and maintaining neutrality over Russia's war in Ukraine, but that he would like to see China join the countries opposed to Moscow over the invasion.
He made the comments by video link at an event organised at the Australian National University. (Reuters)
August
ASEAN to rethink peace plan if Myanmar executes more prisoners - chair
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be forced to reconsider a peace plan agreed with Myanmar if the country's military rulers execute more prisoners, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday.
The 10-nation bloc had been pushing for Myanmar to adhere to a five-point peace "consensus" agreed last year and has condemned the recent execution of four democracy activists by the junta.
"If more prisoners are executed, we will be forced to rethink...our role vis a vis ASEAN's five-point consensus," said Hun Sen, who is ASEAN's current chair and was speaking at the start of a meeting of the group's foreign ministers.
Hun Sen said ASEAN's unity had been challenged by the political and security implications of the situation in Myanmar, which has spiralled into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
The prime minister said that while the five-point consensus had "not advanced to everyone's wishes" there had been some progress including in providing humanitarian aid.
But he went on to say the current situation had "changed dramatically" and could be seen as even worse than before the peace agreement because of the junta's execution of the activists.
Cambodia along with other ASEAN member states "are deeply disappointed and disturbed by the execution of those opposition activists, despite the appeals from me and others for the death sentences to be reconsidered," said Hun Sen.
A senior U.S. State Department official said the United States is "looking what can be done to both sustain and increase the pressure on the regime to end the grip of violence".
Myanmar's military last week defended the execution of the activists as "justice for the people", brushing off a deluge of international condemnation including by its closest neighbours.
The military said it had executed the activists for aiding "terror acts" by a civilian resistance movement, Myanmar's first executions in decades. read more
Myanmar will not be represented at this week's meeting after its military rulers declined a proposal to send a non-junta representative instead.
ASEAN has since late last year barred the Myanmar junta from joining its meetings due to its lack of progress in implementing the peace plan.
Some other members of ASEAN, which has a tradition of non-interference in each other's internal affairs, have been increasingly strident in their criticism of the generals.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has described the executions as a crime against humanity and appearing to make "a mockery" of the ASEAN peace plan.
"On Myanmar, they're all furious over last week's executions and will be looking to prove that ASEAN isn't completely neutered," said Greg Poling, director of Southeast Asia Studies at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Still, an Asian diplomat who declined to be identified questioned what new measures ASEAN would be prepared to take.
"The five-point consensus was useful because Myanmar had agreed to it …. now, aside from making statements and carrying on humanitarian assistance, can you do anything without Myanmar there? Honestly, I don't know," said the diplomat.
Myanmar has been in chaos since last year's coup, with conflict spreading after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in towns and cities. (Reuters)
August
EU urges dialogue to reduce risks amid Taiwan tension
Written by Nur Yasmin
The European Union called on Wednesday for tensions over U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan to be resolved through dialogue and for communication channels with China to be kept open to avoid miscalculation.
"The EU has an interest in preserving peace and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," a spokesperson for the 27-nation bloc said.
"We encourage a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues. Tensions should be resolved through dialogue. Appropriate channels of communication should be maintained to reduce risks of miscalculation."
The European Commission spoksesperson said the EU had "a clear One China Policy", recognising the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China while also pursuing "friendly relations and close cooperation with Taiwan". (Reuters)
August
China's top diplomat told of possible Pelosi Taiwan trip in July, U.S. official says
Written by Nur Yasmin
The possibility of U.S. house speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan was raised with China's foreign minister last month and there were no plans for the two countries' top diplomats to meet this week in Cambodia, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the potential for Pelosi's visit with counterpart Wang Yi during a G20 meeting in Bali that lasted more than five hours, and said any such trip would be entirely Pelosi's decision and independent of the U.S. government.
"The question is whether Beijing will try to use the trip as some kind of excuse to take steps that could be escalatory or that could somehow produce conflict," the senior State Department official told reporters in Tokyo, adding that Beijing should not overreact to a trip that was neither unusual nor unprecedented.
"China should not use this as a pretext to continue what it's been doing, which is seeking to change the status quo with regard to Taiwan," the official said.
"And if any escalation or crisis were to somehow follow her visit, it would be on Beijing."
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Wednesday.
China vented its fury on Wednesday over what was the highest-level U.S. visit to Taiwan in a quarter of a century, stepping up military activity in surrounding waters and suspending imports of some products from Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control.
Blinken was en route to Cambodia for a series of meetings that will culminate in Friday's ASEAN Regional Forum, a security-focused gathering of 27 countries including China, Japan, Russia, Britain and Australia.
The official also said there would be no direct meeting in Phnom Penh with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding Moscow had shown no indication it would end its hostilities in Ukraine.
"If we actually saw any kind of meaningful diplomatic opening to help end the aggression, we would, of course, engage, but we've not seen that."
This week's gathering is hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which the United States hopes can discuss how to "both sustain and increase pressure" on Myanmar's junta to end its crackdown on its opponents.
The official also said the United States wanted to strengthen relations with ASEAN chair Cambodia, China's biggest ally in Southeast Asia, but stressed the importance that it show transparency about its engagement with Beijing's military. (Reuters)
August
Sri Lanka to restart IMF bailout talks, president calls for unity government
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka will restart bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in August, its new president said on Wednesday, while calling on lawmakers to form an all-party government to resolve a crippling economic crisis.
In a speech in parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that constitutional amendments were required to curtail presidential powers - indicating he would meet a key demand of protesters who forced out his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
"The president of a country does not have to be a king or a god who is exalted above the people. He or she is one of the citizens," Wickremesinghe said.
The island nation of 22 million people is facing its worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 with its foreign exchange reserves at record lows, and the economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and a steep fall in government revenue.
Angered by persistent shortages of essentials, including fuel and medicines, and sky-rocketing inflation of over 60 percent year-on-year, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in early July, forcing Rajapaksa to first flee the country and then quit office.
Wickremesinghe, who was then prime minister, took over as acting president and was later confirmed in the job by parliament.
Discussions with the IMF for a four-year programme that could provide up to $3 billion would resume in August, Wickremesinghe told lawmakers in his first major address to parliament since taking over.
The government is working with its financial and legal advisers Lazard and Clifford Chance to finalise a plan to restructure overseas debt, including about $12 billion owed to bondholders.
"We would submit this plan to the International Monetary Fund in the near future, and negotiate with the countries who provided loan assistance," Wickremesinghe said.
"Subsequently negotiations with private creditors would also begin to arrive at a consensus."
A veteran lawmaker whose party only held one seat in parliament, Wickremesinghe won a leadership vote in the 225-member house last month with the support of the country's ruling party that is dominated by the Rajapaksa family. read more
But the new president reiterated his call for a unity government, adding that he had already initiated discussions with some groups.
"I respectfully extend the hand of friendship to all of you. I confidently invite you to put aside the past and come together for the sake of the country," Wickremesinghe said.
Opposition lawmaker Harsha de Silva backed the president's proposal.
"We must come together; specifically an all or multi party government for a limited period of time to work towards creating this new #SriLanka on a common minimum program," he said in a tweet.
With an interim budget likely to be presented within weeks, Wickremesinghe said his government was working on a long-term economic plan. This would include bringing down public debt from its current level of 140 percent of Sri Lanka's GDP to less than 100% within 10 years and creating a budget surplus by 2025.
He did not give any details.
Wickremesinghe, who has been accused by activists and rights groups of cracking down on anti-government protesters, said peaceful struggle was a fundamental right but he would not tolerate violence.
"I will not allow anyone to act outside the law," he said. (reuters)
August
India confirmed its first monkeypox death on Monday, a young man in the southern state of Kerala, in what is only the fourth known fatality from the disease in the current outbreak.
Last week, Spain reported two monkeypox-related deaths and Brazil its first. The death in India is also the first in Asia. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on July 23.
The 22-year-old Indian man died on Saturday, Kerala's revenue minister told reporters, adding that the government had isolated 21 people who had come in contact with him.
"The person reached Kerala on July 21 but visited a hospital only on July 26 when he displayed fatigue and fever," Minister K. Rajan said, adding that there was no reason to panic as none of the primary contacts were showing symptoms.
Kerala's health minister, Veena George, told reporters on Sunday that the man's family told authorities the previous day that he had tested positive in the United Arab Emirates before returning to India.
India's federal health ministry had no comment on the death, except for saying that the government had formed a task force of senior officials to monitor monkeypox cases in the country, where local media have reported at least five infections.
The WHO said late last month 78 countries had reported more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox, the majority in Europe.
It says the monkeypox virus causes a disease with less severe symptoms than smallpox and occurs mainly in central and west Africa. The disease is transmitted from animals to humans.
Human-to-human transmission happens through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects. (Reuters)
August
U.S. Navy deploys four warships east of Taiwan as Pelosi heads to Taipei
Written by Nur Yasmin
Four U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on what the U.S. Navy called routine deployments on Tuesday amid Chinese anger over U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit the island.
The carrier USS Ronald Reagan had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippines Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan, a U.S. Navy official told o Reuters.
The Japan-based Reagan is operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins.
"While they are able to respond to any eventuality, these are normal, routine deployments," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
They would not comment on precise locations.
The official said the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was also in the area.
Pelosi, a long-time China critic, was expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, people briefed on the matter said, as the United States said it would not be intimidated by Chinese warnings over the visit.
Signs emerged of military activity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait ahead of Pelosi's visit.
Chinese planes flew close to the median line dividing the waterway on Tuesday morning and several Chinese warships had remained close to the unofficial dividing line since Monday, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
China's defence and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The source said the Chinese aircraft repeatedly conducted tactical moves of briefly "touching" the median line and circling back to the other side of the strait while Taiwanese aircraft were on standby nearby - a move they described as provocative.
The person said three other Chinese warships on Tuesday carried out drills to simulate attacks on carrier-borne aircraft in waters east of Taiwan. The ships had been tracked sailing through Japan's southern islands at the weekend, the Japanese Defence Forces said.
Neither side's aircraft normally cross the median line.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it would appropriately send forces in reaction to "enemy threats".
The source said the Chinese aircraft repeatedly conducted tactical moves of briefly "touching" the median line and circling back to the other side of the strait while Taiwanese aircraft were on standby nearby - a move they described as provocative.
The person said three other Chinese warships on Tuesday carried out drills to simulate attacks on carrier-borne aircraft in waters east of Taiwan. The ships had been tracked sailing through Japan's southern islands at the weekend, the Japanese Defence Forces said.
Neither side's aircraft normally cross the median line.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it would appropriately send forces in reaction to "enemy threats". (Reuters)