Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
July
Rishi Sunak tops second round of voting in UK leadership contest
Written by Nur Yasmin
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the second round of voting to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, as one candidate was eliminated.
Sunak came top with 101 votes, followed by junior trade minister and bookmakers' favourite Penny Mordaunt on 83 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 64 votes. Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated with 27 votes.
Lawmaker Tom Tugendhat received 32 votes and Kemi Badenoch received 49 votes. (Reuters)
July
Ukraine, Russia see positive signs for grain deal; wheat prices ease
Written by Nur Yasmin
Major global wheat exporters Ukraine and Russia see positive signs in discussions which could lead to the resumption of Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports after Wednesday's talks in Istanbul, their officials said.
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal next week aimed at resuming Ukraine's grain exports, Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said after the talks, although U.N. chief Antonio Guterres was a little more cautious.
Ukraine is "definitely a step closer to a result", the country's infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told Reuters on Thursday.
There has indeed been a substantive discussion on this issue in Istanbul, Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Thursday.
"It was possible to formulate some elements of a possible agreement which Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are now discussing in their capitals through their military departments," she said.
Ukraine's Black Sea ports have been blockaded since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, sending global prices of grains and sunflower oil soaring. Chicago wheat prices have since fallen back to pre-war levels due to the new crop in the Northern Hemisphere.
French wheat prices also fell by 2% on Thursday, partly on the talks which would establish a shipping corridor to transport Ukrainian grain to global markets, and partly on improved crop forecasts.
A preliminary date for the next four-way meeting is July 20 or 21, the Russian RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the situation.
According to the Turkish defence ministry, the date of the next meeting is still not clear.
Any deal would require the removal of mines near Black Sea ports and political will despite Moscow and Kyiv being far from any kind of peace settlement.
"The information about a technical decision to create a coordination centre for the export of Ukrainian grain in Istanbul logically means that there is no political decision yet. And that is not surprising," said Bohdan Yaremenko, a lawmaker for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's political party.
The grain talks are the prerogative of Russia's military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday: "If there is a need to announce results of the negotiations, the military will do so." (Reuters)
July
Mali orders temporary suspension of U.N. peacekeeping mission rotations
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mali's military-led government said on Thursday it was temporarily suspending troop rotations by U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, days after arresting 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast who it said had arrived in country without permission.
Ivory Coast says the soldiers were deployed as part of a security and logistics support contract signed with the mission in 2019. (reuters)
July
Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa emails resignation letter to parliamentary speaker - source
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa emailed a letter of resignation to the speaker of the country's parliament late on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said.
It was not immediately clear if the letter, sent shortly after Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore, would be accepted in email form, the source added. (reuters)
July
Japan warns of COVID surge, Tokyo raises alert level
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan warned on Thursday that a new wave of COVID infections appeared to be spreading rapidly and urged people to take special care ahead of an approaching long weekend and school summer vacations.
Tokyo's 16,878 new cases on Wednesday were the highest since February, while the nationwide tally rose above 90,000, in a recent surge of COVID-19 infections to levels unseen since early this year. The Japanese capital marked 16,662 new cases on Thursday.
In his first news conference since former premier Shinzo Abe was killed and after the ruling coalition won an election on Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the highest level of caution was needed.
"The coronavirus is spreading throughout the nation and through all age groups," he said, urging people to make sure they got their booster shots - especially those in their 20s and 30s, whose vaccination rate is lagging.
"With summer vacations coming up, interaction between all generations will be increasing."
Additional steps included making fourth shots available to a wider range of people and establishing free testing sites at railway stations and airports, he said.
"At this point, the number of seriously ill and deaths are still low. But the number of hospital beds in use, although low at this point, is on the rise," Kishida said.
But he added that no restrictions on movement were needed yet and he had no immediate plans to tighten border controls above the current level, which - with tourists limited to small group tours - remain among the strictest in the world.
Some experts are warning that cases could rise sharply over the next few weeks.
The capital raised its alert level to the highest tier. The BA.5 variant accounts for more than half of the new cases.
"Tomorrow, we will hold a meeting ... to decide on measures to be taken this summer," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a meeting earlier on Thursday, adding that the gathering would weigh expert opinion and the nationwide trend.
Kishida also paid tribute to Abe, slain at an election campaign rally last Friday by an unemployed man with a homemade gun, adding that he felt there were faults in the security for Abe.
"Abe has many great legacies to his name across a wide variety of issues," he said.
"This includes taking on the heavy responsibility of being premier for our country with outstanding leadership and action over the course of eight years and eight months - the longest in modern history - when in the midst of domestic and global tension."
He said Japan would hold a state funeral for him in the autumn. The last state funeral for a former prime minister was for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. (reuters)
July
IMF reaches staff-level accord with Pakistan to disburse $1.17 bln
Written by Nur Yasmin
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said it had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan that would pave the way for disbursement of $1.17 billion, if approved by the IMF board, and was considering topping up the programme.
In a statement, the IMF said its staff had reached agreement on policies under a review of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program that could bring total disbursements under the programme to about $4.2 billion, if approved.
The breakthrough could be barely more timely, with the high price of energy imports pushing Pakistan to the brink of a balance of payments crisis.
Its foreign currency reserves have fallen as low as $9.8 billion, hardly enough for five weeks of imports, and the Pakistani rupee has weakened to record lows against the U.S. dollar.
"The Agreement with the Fund has set the stage to bring country out of economic difficulties," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in a tweet that Pakistan would soon "receive $1.17b as the combined 7th & 8th tranche" of the programme.
Pakistan entered a 39-month, $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, but less than half of the amount has been disbursed to date as Islamabad has struggled to keep targets on track.
In order to meet Pakistan higher financing needs, the IMF statement said its board would also consider an extension of the EFF until the end of June 2023, and whether to top it up by nearly $1 billion.
Returning to the IMF programme should also open up other external financing avenues for Pakistan.
Having come to power just two months ago, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government is tasked with slashing the fiscal and current account deficits under the IMF programme.
The central bank has already jacked up its policy interest rate to 15% to counter the inflation, which ran at 21.3% in June.
"Pakistan is at a challenging economic juncture," Nathan Porter, who headed the IMF team, said in a statement, citing the difficult external environment and domestic policies that fueled demand to unsustainable levels.
"The resultant economic overheating led to large fiscal and external deficits in FY22, contributed to rising inflation, and eroded reserve buffers," he added.
Agreed policy priorities included steadfast implementation of the fiscal 2023 budget, which aimed to reduce the government's large borrowing needs and boost revenues by targeting higher income taxpayers, while protecting development spending, Porter said.
"We will by the grace of God fulfill all international commitments, including those made with the IMF," Ismail, the finance minister told Geo TV late Wednesday night.
"We have put brakes on expenditures," he said.
The new government has withdrawn the unfunded subsidies that the previous prime minister, Imran Khan, gave to the oil and power sectors during his last days in office. On July 1, it also imposed a levy on petroleum that will raise prices by about 70% within a month. (Reuters)
July
Pacific islands leaders commit to regional unity in face of superpower rivalry
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pacific island leaders have agreed to take a united approach as the United States and China vie for influence in the region, and to push developed nations for bolder action on climate change, which they say is the biggest threat they face.
A communique to be released on the final day of the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Suva will show the leaders agree to consult each other before entering into security arrangements, forum secretary general Henry Puna told reporters.
The approach taken by China, which asked 10 out of 18 forum members to endorse a pre-prepared security and trade deal in May, without time to consult, was rejected by forum leaders this week, he said.
"The region did not accept that approach," he said at a press conference on Thursday.
The biggest member, Australia, provides aid and policing throughout the region but was excluded from China's proposal, as were several nations that have ties with Taiwan.
This week the United States said it would triple funding to the Pacific islands under a fisheries deal, amid concern over China's security ambitions for the region and a decade of rising Chinese investment.
Puna said Pacific islands "can't afford to be enemies with anyone".
"There are opportunities to be had... however certain issues like security, it does have regional impacts, and that is the issue that leaders have asked each other to share and dialogue with each other so everybody knows what is happening," he said.
In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said a security deal struck with China in May, prompting concern from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, would not allow a Chinese military base in his country because he didn't want his country to become a target.
"The reason is regionalism. The moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy," he said.
Forum chairman and Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the region was facing complex challenges and leaders recognised they had strength in numbers.
"Unity was our overriding focus," he said.
An agreement was signed to resolve a rift with Micronesian nations, as leaders committed to keep talking with Kiribati, which withdrew from the forum this week.
Agreement was also reached on climate action, nuclear issues and fisheries, he said, ahead of the communique being released.
The forum will call for the United Nations General Assembly to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate change, as a tactic to boost commitments.
"Australia's new position on climate change was particularly well-received, and that is reflected in the communique," Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters.
Bainimarama said Fiji urged developed countries including Australia to phase out coal and fossil fuels, and step up financing for the "loss and damage" caused by climate change in small island countries. (Reuters)
July
Fresh COVID wave sweeps Asia; New Zealand warns of pressure on hospitals
Written by Nur Yasmin
A new wave of coronavirus infections is rapidly spreading through Asia, prompting warnings for residents from New Zealand to Japan to take precautions to slow the outbreak and help prevent healthcare systems from being overwhelmed.
The renewed surge in cases, mostly of the BA.4/5 Omicron variants, provides a further challenge for authorities grappling with the economic fallout of earlier waves of the pandemic while trying to avoid extending or reintroducing unpopular restrictions.
The New Zealand government on Thursday announced free masks and rapid antigen tests as it tries to relieve pressure on the country's health system, which is dealing with an influx of both COVID and influenza patients during the southern hemisphere winter.
"There's no question the combination of a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations, the worst flu season in recent memory and corresponding staff absences are putting health workers and the whole health system under extreme pressure," Ayesha Verrall, Minister for COVID-19 Response, said in a statement.
New Zealand, which has a population of 5.1 million, has almost 69,000 currently infected with the virus. Of those, 765 cases are in hospital, which has caused increases in wait times and surgeries to be cancelled.
In Japan, new COVID-19 cases have surged to levels not seen since early this year. The government has called on people to be especially careful ahead of an upcoming long weekend and imminent summer school vacations.
Japan reported almost 95,000 cases on Wednesday and newly infected patients have increased by 2.14-fold compared to the last week, according to a government spokesperson.
"The number of new cases is rising in every prefecture in Japan, and it seems to be rapidly spreading," Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said at the start of a committee meeting on dealing with the coronavirus.
Tokyo raised its alert level to the highest tier."Tomorrow, we will hold a meeting of the task force to decide on measures to be taken this summer, taking into consideration the national trend and the opinions of experts," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at a meeting.
Like New Zealand, South Korea was praised for its response early in the pandemic, but by Wednesday, daily cases there had tripled in a week to more than 39,000.
Officials and experts expect South Korea's new daily cases to reach 200,000 by around mid-August to end-September and are expanding inoculations of booster shots but not planning renewed curbs.
Australia warned it could be hit with its worst COVID-19 outbreak over the next few weeks fuelled by the BA.4/5 Omicron variants. Authorities said "millions" of new infections could be expected, but ruled out any tough restrictions to contain the spread.
"We've moved beyond that ... we're not in the era of lockdowns and those sorts of things," Federal Health Minister Mark Butler told radio station 2GB on Thursday, even as he urged Australians to consider working from home again.
Australian hospital admissions are already hovering near levels seen in the last major Omicron outbreak earlier this year with its health system also under pressure from high COVID and influenza numbers.
While cases in Thailand have trended down, infections in Indonesia have picked up, reaching the highest since March.
New infections and hospitalisations in the Philippines remain low, but the government has warned case numbers could rise at least 20-fold by the end of the month.
Manila is urging more people to get their booster shots as health ministry data shows only a quarter of eligible adults have received their first booster as of July 12.
Mainland China has reported an average of over 300 locally transmitted COVID daily infections in July, higher than around 70 in June, as Beijing's strict “dynamic COVID-zero” policy helps keep local clusters in check and has prevented any overwhelming of hospitals. (Reuters)
July
Singapore allows Sri Lanka president entry on private visit, says no asylum request
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore's foreign ministry said on Thursday Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had been allowed to enter the city-state on a private visit.
It said he has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted asylum. (Reuters)
July
Solomon Islands PM meets Australian, NZ leaders over China pact
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Solomon Islands prime minister met counterparts from Australia and New Zealand for the first time since striking a security pact with China that sparked concern among U.S. allies over Beijing's military ambitions in the Pacific islands.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand premier Jacinda Ardern in separate bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji.
During the four-day meeting, Pacific island leaders will discuss how to gather more international support and funding to fight the impact of rising sea levels and climate change, as well as China's aim for greater security ties in the region.
The Solomon Islands security pact with China became a major election issue in Australia. Albanese said it was a failing of diplomacy by his predecessor Scott Morrison. \
"We are family and there are many issues, and that makes family stronger," Sogavare said, after hugging Albanese.
Details of the pact have not been disclosed, but Sogavare has ruled out allowing China to have a military base and said the deal covered policing to protect Chinese projects because an agreement with traditional partner Australia was "inadequate".
Albanese said Australia and the Solomon Islands could to more to build trust and "for joint benefit".
"As members of the region we want to advance the interests of the Pacific," he said. (Reuters)