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May
Many Afghan women pushing back against Taliban orders to cover up
Written by Nur Yasmin
Many women in the Afghan capital are delaying a return to fully covering their faces in public in defiance of orders from Islamist Taliban rulers, others are staying at home and some have been wearing COVID-19 face masks anyway.
The Taliban, who swept back to power as the government collapsed, on Saturday ordered women to cover their faces in public, a return to their past hardline rule and an escalation of restrictions on girls and women that are causing anger at home and abroad.
The consequences of disobedience are aimed at a woman's closest male family member, ranging from a warning to imprisonment.
The U.N. Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the order and the United States said it would increase pressure on the Taliban administration.
It was not clear whether any men had yet faced consequences by Wednesday and Taliban authorities said they would first focus on "encouraging" adherence.
In Kabul, one of the more liberal areas of Afghanistan, there were indications that women were pushing back.
At least two protests took place this week, as demonstrators criticised growing attempts to limit women from public life.
"We want to be known as living creatures, we want to be known as human beings, not slaves imprisoned in the corner of the house," one protester said.
A seller of all-enveloping burqas in Kabul told Reuters in the days after the announcement sellers had lifted prices around 30%, but they had since come back to around 1,300 Afghanis ($15) as there was no increased demand.
"Most women prefer to buy a hijab (a headscarf), not a burqa. A burqa is good according to the Taliban, but it is the women's last choice," he said.
Reuters spoke to two female doctors and a teacher - the few formal jobs still available to women - who said that covering faces and wearing loose garments would interfere with their work.
"We are doctors, we do operations and we have to wash our hands up to our elbows," said a doctor, who declined to be identified for security reasons.
Outside the capital there were some signs that Saturday's announcement was fuelling stricter oversight of women's dress.
A doctor in southeastern Afghanistan said Taliban officials had told her not to treat female patients who did not have a male chaperone and were not fully covered.
A university student in northern Afghanistan said university officials since Saturday were becoming much stricter on dress code, telling her on Monday that her colourful headscarf was unacceptable and she must wear all black.
Fahima, a woman living in the western province of Herat, ran a business before the Taliban took over but now must wait for her teenage son to come home from school so she can leave the house with him just to buy groceries.
"I can barely leave home," she said. (Reuters)
May
Vietnam leader interested in Biden economic framework, but needs to study details
Written by Nur Yasmin
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Wednesday that Hanoi was interested in helping the United States realize the aims of its proposed economic framework for the Indo-Pacific, but needed time to study the details.
Chinh, in Washington for a two-day summit between President Joe Biden and Southeast Asian leaders starting on Thursday, said he had had discussions on Biden's Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with U.S. officials earlier on Wednesday.
"We would we would like to work with the U.S. to realize the four pillars of that initiative," he told a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said the pillars were supply-chain stability, digital economy, the fight against climate change and a fourth related to labor, tax and combating corruption.
"These are very important to the U.S., to Vietnam and other countries alike," he said, speaking through a translator.
However, Chinh said the "concrete elements" of the initiative had yet to be clarified.
"We are ready to engage in discussion with the U.S. to clarify what these four pillars will entail and when that is clarified, we would have something to discuss," he added. "We need more time to study this initiative and see what it entails."
Asian countries have been frustrated by a U.S. delay in detailing plans for economic engagement with the region since former President Donald Trump quit a regional trade pact in 2017, leaving the field open to U.S. rival China.
At a virtual summit with ASEAN last October, Biden said Washington would start talks about developing what has become known as IPEF, which aims to set regional standards for cooperation, but diplomats say this is likely to feature only peripherally this week. read more
Japan's Washington ambassador said this week IPEF is likely to be formally launched when Biden visits Japan later this month, but its details were still under discussion. read more
Analysts and diplomats say only two of the 10 ASEAN countries - Singapore and the Philippines - were expected to be among the initial group of states to sign up for negotiations under IPEF, which does not currently offer the expanded market access Asian nations crave given Biden's concern for American jobs.
Chinh hailed the blossoming of Hanoi's relations with the United States in recent decades and the explosion of bilateral trade to almost $112 billion annually, although he said the two sides should further advance cooperation to deal with the legacy of their hostility in the Vietnam War. (Reuters)
May
Asian economic powers warn of risks from war, monetary policy normalisation
Written by Nur Yasmin
East Asian economic leaders warned on Thursday of risks to the region's outlook and pledged to remain committed to market stability and sound fiscal policy.
Economic risks included unexpectedly early rises in interest rates "in some advanced nations", runaway inflation and supply chain disruption on top of the war in Ukraine, finance ministers and central bank governors said in a joint statement.
The statement followed annual meetings, held online, of the officials from China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Japanese, Chinese and South Korean officials affirmed their commitment to supporting financial market stability and to long-term fiscal sustainability.
"We must remain on guard against heightening risks to which the regional economic recovery is being exposed ... on top of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and earlier-than-expected monetary policy normalisation in some advanced nations," it said.
"These factors could become downside risks to the regional economic outlook, causing volatility to financial markets and capital flows."
The officials' joint statement comes amid concerns that U.S interest rate rises and related reduction in central bank assets have driven up the dollar. This has raised the prospect of capital flight from some emerging markets and a rising burden of dollar-denominated debt in the developing world.
The officials steered clear of references to currency market moves, notably rises in the dollar and falls in the yen, or sanctions against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation."
Instead, they underscored progress in regional initiatives, including a mechanism aimed at helping countries in times of financial distress, the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation currency swaps deal.
A deep divide has emerged within the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, which includes Western nations that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine. Other members - China, Indonesia, India and South Africa - have not joined Western-led sanctions against Russia over the conflict.
ASEAN is chaired by Cambodia this year and includes Indonesia, which currently chairs the G20.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki used harsher words than the joint statement in discussing the invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia's unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine has shaken the foundation of international order and is a clear violation of international law," Suzuki told reporters. "It is having a serious impact on the global economy with energy and food price rises, supply-chain disruptions, destabilisation of financial markets and increasing numbers of refugees." (Reuters)
May
EU seeks bigger role in Asia's 'theatre of tensions', warns on China
Written by Nur Yasmin
European Union leaders said on Thursday that the EU wants to become a bigger actor in Asia, which they termed a "theatre of tensions", warning of an increasingly assertive China even as they called on Beijing to defend the multilateral global order.
The call came in a joint news conference in Tokyo after an EU-Japan summit featuring European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. It also came a day after Beijing warned the summit not to "speak ill" of China.
The trio said they would keep up talks on ways to maximise their partnership to tackle Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, in areas such as energy as well as aid, joining in a statement to call for the immediate cessation of hostilities.
But Michel and von der Leyen, in Japan for the latest in a series of annual talks, also said they were aware that regional tensions existed in Asia as well, and that the EU wanted - and needed - to take on a bigger role.
"The Indo-Pacific is a thriving region. It is also a theatre of tensions," von der Leyen said. "Take the situation in the East and South China Sea and the constant threat of the DPRK (North Korea)."
"The European Union wants to take a more active role in the Indo-Pacific. We want to take more responsibility in a region that is so vital to our prosperity."
Both warned of China's close relationship with Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation", and condemned unilateral moves to change the status quo in any region of the world.
"Our cooperation in Ukraine is critical but it is also important in the Indo-Pacific, and we also want to deepen our consultation on a more assertive China," Michel said. "We believe that China must stand up to defend the multilateral system that it has benefited from."
The meeting came a day after China said that while a strong EU-Japan relationship was beneficial, it shouldn't go too far.
"I also need to emphasize that the EU-Japan summit is a matter between themselves but they should not speak ill of China, let alone interfere in China's internal affairs," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.
Both Michel and von der Leyen welcomed Japan's participation in measures against Russia, including sanctions.
"We welcome the increasingly strong stance Japan is taking against Russia," von der Leyen said at the start of their talks.
Tokyo has joined the European Union and Group of Seven nations in imposing trade sanctions on Russia, that have cramped Moscow's ability to export its oil and gas.
But Japan is heavily reliant on energy imports, including purchases from Russia. Last week Kishida said Japan would "in principle" ban Russian oil but it has been more reluctant to disengage from some projects.
The three officials were meeting in the Japanese capital for an annual conference that was held online last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, a day after Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin met with Kishida and just hours before Finland said it would apply to join NATO.
Von der Leyen will leave Japan on Thursday afternoon, while Michel will travel to the nuclear memorial city of Hiroshima, where he will offer flowers, and leave at the weekend.
"In light of the war in Ukraine, this will be an opportune time to send a powerful message of peace and of hope," he said. (Reuters)
May
Kosovo hopes to join Council of Europe after Russia’s exit
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kosovo government said on Thursday it will apply for membership at the European rights watchdog the Council of Europe, seizing an opportunity after Russia quit the body in mid-March.
Russia left the body hours before a vote on its expulsion in the Council of Europe’s assembly on March 15, three weeks after it started its attack on Ukraine.
Being accepted into the organisation requires a two-thirds vote by members, and with Russia not recognising Kosovo as an independent state, there had been a risk any previous application would fail.
Kosovo says it now has enough backing from the 46-member body to be accepted and the government said it had ordered the foreign ministry to start membership procedures.
Backed by Western countries, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 almost a decade after the war between ethnic Albanians and Serb forces ended in 1999.
Kosovo is recognised by more than 110 countries but it is still not a U.N member, facing objections from its former master Serbia and veto holder Russia.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said his country would strongly react if Kosovo applied for Council of Europe membership and called an urgent meeting of the national security council.
The Council of Europe created the European Convention on Human Rights and helped eastern European nations to democratise their political systems after the collapse of Communism.
It advocates freedom of expression and of the media, freedom of assembly, equality, and the protection of minorities. (Reuters)
May
Ukraine's Zelenskiy lauds Finnish readiness to apply to join NATO
Written by Nur Yasmin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy lauded Finland's readiness to apply to join the NATO military alliance in a phone call with Finland's president on Thursday, Zelenskiy said.
"We also discussed Ukraine's European integration. And - defense interaction," he wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
May
Palestinian president blames Israel for Al Jazeera reporter's killing
Written by Nur Yasmin
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that Israeli authorities were "fully responsible" for the killing of a veteran Al Jazeera reporter during clashes in the occupied West Bank and called for an international investigation.
Shireen Abu Akleh suffered a gunshot wound to the head in Jenin on Wednesday. Al Jazeera and Qatar, where the news networkd is based, accused Israeli troops of the killing.
Israel, which has voiced regret at Abu Akleh's death, said it was looking into the killing and that the fatal shot might have been fired by a Palestinian gunman. It has proposed a joint investigation with the Palestinians, asking them to provide the bullet for examination.
"We rejected the joint investigation with the Israeli occupation authorities because they committed the crime and because we don't trust them," said Abbas during an official memorial ceremony for Abu Akleh, who was Palestinian-American.
He added that the Palestinian Authority "will go immediately to the International Criminal Court in order to track down the criminals".
Abu Akleh, 51, was wearing a blue vest clearly marked "Press" while reporting in Jenin, Al Jazeera said. She was covering the latest arrest operation launched by the Israeli military amid deadly Arab attacks in Israel. Another Palestinian journalist at the scene, Ali Samoodi, was wounded.
The body of Abu Akleh was driven in a motorcade from a hospital in the Palestinian hub city of Ramallah towards Abbas's compound. Hundreds of mourners lined both sides of the road, some throwing flowers.
The death drew international and Arab condemnation, including from the White House, which demanded a "comprehenisve investigation". (Reuters)
May
Many Sri Lankans flee Colombo as crisis persists
Written by Nur Yasmin
Many Sri Lankans thronged buses in the main city Colombo on Thursday to return to their hometowns during a brief relaxation in curfew, imposed after the prime minister quit and went into hiding and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa warned of anarchy.
The island nation off India's southern tip, which overlooks shipping routes between Europe and Asia, is battling its worst economic crisis since independence. Violence erupted on Monday after supporters of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's elder brother, attacked an anti-government protest camp in Colombo.
Days of violent reprisals against government figures aligned to the powerful Rajapaksa clan followed. The army was called out to patrol the streets and police said 9 people were killed and more than 300 injured in the clashes.
Security forces have been ordered to shoot to prevent violence and looting.
Hundreds of people thronged the main bus station in Colombo after authorities lifted an indefinite curfew at 7 a.m. (0130 GMT) on Thursday.
Streets in the commercial capital were calm, thoughthere were queues at supermarkets as people ventured out to buy essential supplies beforethe curfew was reimposed at 2 p.m.
Frustration remained at ongoing fuel shortages that have crippled the country's economy.
"We have hit the bottom economically," said Nimal Jayantha, an autorickshaw driver queuing for petrol after the curfew was lifted.
"I don't have the time do my job. By the time I stay in the fuel queue and get petrol, curfew will be imposed. I will have to go home without any money."
Protesters have sprayed graffiti over Mahinda Rajapaksa's home in a southern town and ransacked a museum dedicated to his father. They have vowed to keep up the protests until the president also quits.
NEW PM THIS WEEK
Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down after the fighting erupted and is in hiding in a military base in the northeast of the country. On Thursday, a magistrate's court issued orders blocking him, his son Namal and other key allies from leaving the country, lawyers present at the hearing said.
"I personally will extend my fullest cooperation to any investigation that is taking place with regard to the unfortunate events that took place on Monday," Namal Rajapaksa said in a tweet following the order.
"Neither my father nor myself have any intention to leave (Sri Lanka)."
The president has said he will appoint a new prime minister and cabinet this week "to prevent the country from falling into anarchy as well as to maintain the affairs of the government that have been halted".
The Colombo stock market, closed for the last two days, ended over three percent up on Thursday on optimism over a new cabinet, traders said.
Sri Lanka's central bank governor said on Wednesday failing to find a solution to the crisis in the next one to two weeks would lead to power cuts of up to 10 to 12 hours per day, as well as his own resignation.
President Rajapaksa has repeatedly called for a unity government to find a way out of the crisis, but opposition leaders say they will not serve until he resigns.
Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and tax cuts by the populist Rajapaksa government, the island nation is experiencing its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948.
Useable foreign reserves stand as low as $50 million, inflation is rampant, and shortages of fuel, medicine and other essential goods have brought thousands onto the streets in more than a month of anti-government protests, that had remained predominantly peaceful until Monday. (Reuters)
May
UN considers investigation into possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Written by Nur Yasmin
The UN Human Rights Council will decide on Thursday whether to launch an investigation into alleged abuses by Russian troops in the Kyiv area that Ukraine says amount to war crimes.
The resolution, brought by Ukraine and supported by more than 50 other countries, would mandate a newly-formed Commission of Inquiry to investigate events in the regions around Kyiv that were temporarily held by Russian troops.
It would prepare a report by early next year.
"The areas…which have been under Russian occupation in late February and March have experienced the most gruesome human rights violations on the European continent in decades," Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the council.
A spokesman for the Russian mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not provide an immediate comment on the possibility of a war crimes investigation.
Russia denies targeting civilians and calls its actions in Ukraine since Feb. 24 a "special military operation" to disarm the country and rid it of what the Kremlin calls anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
Russia was suspended from the 47-member Council last month over allegations of violations in Ukraine, although Moscow says it quit. According to U.N. rules, its envoy has the right to speak at Thursday's event but its seat was empty. read more
At the same session, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said there were many examples of possible war crimes in the country since the Russian invasion, saying that 1,000 bodies had been recovered so far in the Kyiv region.
"The scale of unlawful killings, including indicia of summary executions in areas to the north of Kyiv, is shocking," she said. (Reuters)
May
Finland said on Thursday it would apply to join NATO "without delay", with Sweden expected to follow suit, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine brings about the very expansion of the Western military alliance that Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent.
The decision by the two Nordic countries to abandon the neutrality they maintained throughout the Cold War would be one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades.
They are the two biggest EU countries that had stayed out of NATO, and Finland's 1,300-km (800-mile) border will more than double the frontier between the U.S.-led alliance and Russia, putting NATO guards a few hours' drive from the northern outskirts of St Petersburg.
"Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay," President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement in Helsinki. "We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days."
Five diplomats and officials told Reuters that NATO allies expect both countries to be granted membership quickly, paving the way for increased troop presence in the Nordic region to defend them during a one-year ratification period. read more
The announcement came even as Russia's war in Ukraine was hitting another turning point, with Ukrainian forces driving Russian troops out of the region around the second largest city Kharkiv, their fastest advance since forcing Russia to withdraw from the capital and northeast more than a month ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited NATO's potential expansion as one of the main reasons for Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine launched in February.
Ukraine had also expressed a desire to eventually join the U.S.-led Western alliance, although it has since offered to accept a form of neutral status as part of peace talks.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden against joining NATO, threatening "serious military and political consequences".
Asked on Wednesday if Finland would provoke Russia by joining NATO, Niinisto said: "My response would be that (Putin)caused this. Look at the mirror." read more
NATO describes itself as a fundamentally defensive alliance, built around the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all, effectively granting U.S. allies the protection of American superpower might, including its nuclear arsenal.
Moscow sees that as a threat to its influence in neighbouring countries. But Putin's decision to invade Ukraine has caused a shift in public opinion in the Nordic region, with political parties that had backed neutrality for generations now coming to embrace the view that Russia is a menace.
UKRAINIAN COUNTER-ATTACK
On the front lines, Ukraine has mounted a bold counter-offensive in recent days that has ousted Russian forces from villages north and east of Kharkiv, where Russian troops had held the outskirts since the beginning of the invasion.
Reuters journalists have confirmed in recent days that Ukraine is now in control of territory on the banks of the Siverskiy Donets River, around 40 km (25 miles) from Kharkiv.
To the north, the Ukrainians have been pushing towards the Russian border. In the latest advance, they announced on Wednesday they had captured the village of Pytomnyk, halfway to the Russian border along the main highway north of Kharkiv.
"The withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kharkiv Oblast (region) is a tacit recognition of Russia’s inability to capture key Ukrainian cities where they expected limited resistance from the population," Britain's ministry of defence said in an update on Thursday.
Ukraine's general staff said in an update overnight: "The enemy is regrouping in order to prevent our forces from advancing further" around Kharkiv, with combat under way where Russians had crossed the Siverskiy Donets.
Ukraine's advances near Kharkiv could put some of Russia's main supply lines to eastern Ukraine, located on the far bank of the Siverskiy Donets, within range of Ukrainian artillery, and even allow it to bombard staging areas inside Russia.
Both sides reported strikes overnight across the Russia-Ukraine border, which Reuters was not able to confirm.
Ukrainian officials reported shelling across the frontier from the Russian border town of Tyotkino, and air strikes that killed and wounded civilians in the northern Ukrainian city of Novhorod-Siversky.
Russia said one person was killed and seven wounded in Solokhi, a village near the border in its Belgorod region. Authorities have declared an alert in Belgorod and Kursk regions near the frontier.
Elsewhere, the Ukraine general staff said Russia had had some success advancing towards Kudryashivka and Sievierodonetsk, part of Moscow's main assault in the eastern Donbas region.
Air strikes were continuing on Azovstal, a giant steelworks in the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol where Ukrainian defenders have been making a last stand.
In the hamlet of Vilkhivka on Kharkiv's eastern outskirts, the Ukrainian advance had made it possible for residents to return to comb through the wreckage of homes destroyed in heavy fighting weeks ago.
A grizzled pensioner recounted how Russian troops had used him and other villagers as human shields before retreating after fierce fighting. read more
“Can they really be called real soldiers after that?” he spat. “They are motherfuckers, not military men!" (Reuters)