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April
Sri Lanka PM offers protesters talks as opposition eyes no-confidence vote
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka's prime minister offered talks on Wednesday with protesters calling for the government to step down over its handing of an economic crisis as the opposition threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against it in parliament.
The island nation of 22 million people is in the throes of its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, with a foreign currency shortage stalling imports of fuel and medicines and bringing hours of power cuts a day.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets, many staging a sit-in in the commercial capital, Colombo, to denounce the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
"The prime minister is ready to start talks with the protesters at Galle Face Green," his office said in a statement, referring to a protest site that has become the focus of discontent. read more
"If protesters are ready to discuss their proposals to resolve the challenges currently facing the nation, then the prime minister is ready to invite their representatives for talks," the office said.
Some of the protesters at the tent encampment, which has been growing over recent days with food stalls, medical facilities and phone charging stations, said this week they would only leave if the Rajapaksas stepped down.
Sri Lanka is due to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week for a loan programme, after months of delay as the crisis worsened.
On Tuesday, the central bank chief said he was suspending foreign debt payments and diverting dwindling foreign reserves to importing essentials. read more
Analysts at JP Morgan have underlined political instability as a key risk as the government scrambles to secure external assistance.
Adding to the uncertainty, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) alliance said it would give the president and prime minister a week to step down before moving a no-confidence motion in parliament.
"Political stability is a pre-condition for IMF talks. The people have no confidence in this government," the SJB's national organiser, Eran Wickramaratne, told Reuters.
"The president and the prime minister must resign," Wickramaratne said, adding that the opposition had the necessary numbers in parliament.
The government has said it holds a majority in the 225-member parliament, which is scheduled to meet next week, despite more than two dozen lawmakers leaving the ruling coalition and declaring themselves independent last week. read more
The roots of the crisis lie in mismanagement of public finances that critics say has been exacerbated by tax cuts enacted by the government just before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
April
Taiwan says it's at only early stage of COVID outbreak, cases will rise
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan is in only the early stages of a COVID-19 outbreak and domestic cases will keep rising for the time being, its health minister said on Wednesday, as the island recorded its highest number of daily COVID infections since the pandemic began.
Unlike much of the rest of the world, Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control with strict and early measures, including implementing an efficient contact-tracing system and largely closing borders.
But local cases have been steadily rising since the start of this year, though the numbers are still relatively small at 4,932 discovered since January 1. Only 16 people have been classified as even moderately ill and just two have died. Taiwan's population is 23 million.
Addressing his daily news briefing and announcing another 744 new local cases, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the outbreak was still in its early stages.
"The rising trend is certain, but it's hard to predict where the high point is," he added.
Speaking earlier to reporters at parliament, Chen said it was possible that daily cases could hit 10,000.
The government has been talking about the "new Taiwan model", trying to eliminate serious illness while controlling less severe cases and not shutting down large parts of the economy, as happened between May and July last year during an earlier spike.
Officials have said there is no need to panic, pointing to the rarity of serious illness, but have urged people to get booster vaccine shots.
Some 80% of people are now double vaccinated and more than half have had a booster, while mask-wearing mandates remain in place. Masks are widely worn.
Chen did not answer questions on whether the government would move again to tighten rules on attending mass gatherings, such as concerts.
But he urged everyone to download a government-backed contact-tracing app that sends alerts to people who have had close physical contact with an infected person.
Since the pandemic began more than two years ago, Taiwan has recorded 29,593 infections - around one third of which were imported cases - and 854 deaths. (Reuters)
April
Pakistan's new government facing severe economic challenges, aide says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan's new government is facing the daunting task of managing a stuttering economy with huge deficits, an aide to new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.
Sharif, 70, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, was elected as prime minister on Monday followed a week-long constitutional crisis after parliament ousted Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote.
"Imran Khan has left a critical mess," Miftah Ismail, who is likely to be Sharif's finance minister, told a news conference in Islamabad, adding the suspended talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be resumed as a priority.
"We will restart talks with the IMF," he said.
Ismail repeated Sharif's concerns raised in his maiden speech in parliament at what he described as record deficits his government will inherit from Khan, who was accused by the opposition of mismanaging the economy.
Sharif set up a National Economic Advisory Council in his first meeting on Tuesday.
The IMF has suspended talks ahead of the seventh review of a $6 billion rescue programme agreed in July 2019.
Pakistan's current account deficit is projected at around 4% of GDP for the 2022 fiscal year (FY), the country's central bank said last week, while foreign reserves dropped to $11.3 billion as at April 1, compared with $16.2 billion less than a month earlier.
The central bank last week hiked key interest rates by 250 basis points to 12.25% in an emergency decision, the biggest hike in decades, citing deterioration in the outlook for inflation and an increase in risks to external stability, heightened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as local political uncertainty.
The bank also revised average inflation forecasts upwards to slightly above 11% in FY22, which ends in June. (Reuters)
April
Iran summons Afghan envoy after protesters throw rocks at diplomatic missions
Written by Nur Yasmin
Iran summoned the Afghan envoy to Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian state TV reported, a day after protesters threw rocks at Iranian diplomatic missions in Kabul and Herat over what they called "mistreatment of Afghan refugees" in the Islamic Republic.
The protests began after videos posted on Twitter in recent days showed young Afghan refugees in Iran being harassed and humiliated by ordinary Iranians. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos.
Iranian officials on Monday denied there was any mistreatment of Afghan refugees in Iran, state television reported.
"The Afghan charge d’affaires in Tehran was summoned in protest over attacks on the Iranian embassy in Kabul and the Iranian Consulate in Herat in Afghanistan on Monday," state TV reported.
Footage on social media, which could not be verified by Reuters, showed a small group of Afghan protesters throwing rocks at Iran's diplomatic missions in Kabul and in the western Afghan city of Herat on Monday.
Iran's embassy in Afghanistan, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the Taliban, which rules Afghanistan, are responsible for the security and safety of Tehran's diplomats and said it would halt consular services in the neighbouring country "until further notice", Iranian state media reported.
But later Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh contradicted the embassy's statement by saying: "All missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan are open and continue to operate", Iran's Students News agency ISNA reported.
Although Iran's clerical establishment has had generally good relations with the Taliban, there have been longstanding tensions along the two countries' 900-km (560 miles) joint border, which has active smuggling routes.
Over five million Afghans, both documented and undocumented, live in Iran, Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian as saying last week. (Reuters)
April
Global LNG body urges governments to support fuel buyers amid Ukraine crisis
Written by Nur Yasmin
An international liquefied natural gas (LNG) body has appealed to governments to help mitigate fuel price spikes and promote new LNG developments to secure a stable global supply.
"This is the first time the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) has issued such an urgent message, underlining the sense of crisis," Michiaki Hirose, GIIGNL's vice president for Asia told reporters on Tuesday.
The Paris-based group, whose members account for more than 90% of global LNG trade, issued a statement a day earlier after a meeting of its executive committee, saying governments should provide protection mechanisms to reduce the exposure of LNG importers and consumers to potential procurement cost increases.
It also said governments should encourage technological development and LNG contracts through policy and financial support to underpin final investment decisions in the LNG value chain.
"In the midst of the current global energy crisis, the stabilisation of LNG trade is a matter of urgency," said Hirose, who is also Chairman of Tokyo Gas Co Ltd (9531.T).
Japan, the world's second-biggest LNG buyer after China, should consider boosting the capacity of LNG storage tanks and tankers, Hirose said.
"Holding LNG reserves has been a taboo subject as it is physically and technically difficult to store...But some measures similar to national petroleum reserves may be needed," he said.
Unlike some European countries that can store months of natural gas supplies in underground salt caverns or depleted gas fields, Japan can only store around three weeks of its LNG requirement in superchilled storage above ground near import terminals. read more
Cooperation among LNG buyers within Japan and each region are also key in the event of any supply disruption, Hirose said.
"It would be ideal if Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which have long collaborated over LNG, could cooperate if some emergency happens," he said. (Reuters)
April
South Korea's Yoon invites ex-president he once prosecuted to his inauguration
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol invited disgraced former President Park Geun-hye to attend his inauguration next month, when the two met on Tuesday for first time since Yoon led a corruption probe five years ago that landed Park in prison.
Yoon, a former prosecutor-general and the new standard-bearer of Park's conservative party, is keen to heal lingering wounds in his party after barely winning last month's bitterly fought presidential election.
He faces historically low approval ratings as he prepares to take office and his People Power Party will soon face another test at the polls in local elections on June 1, just weeks after his May 10 inauguration. read more
Yoon visited Park, 70, at her home in the southeastern city of Daegu, where she has lived since a pardon last December after serving nearly five years of a 20-year sentence on corruption charges. read more
"As we have past history ... I told her I felt sorry about that," Yoon told reporters after the meeting. They also talked about her health and daily life, he said.
Kwon Young-se, an official on Yoon's transition team who had also worked for Park, said in a briefing that Yoon invited the former president to his inauguration during the meeting, and Park promised to try to come despite her poor health.
Yoon, whose advisers include former Park aides, said he would adopt some of her policies so that "she can regain her honour", Kwon said.
Yoo Yeong-ha, a Park lawyer who also attended Tuesday's meeting, said Park, who as president promoted strong ties with Washington, stressed that the economy could not develop without a strong foundation in diplomacy and security, and urged Yoon to "build trust" with many countries.
The imprisonment of Park, the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee, had divided a country in which old Cold War rivalries between right and left still hold sway in politics, while creating a rift within the conservative camp.
Yoon won the March 9 election by a record narrow margin of 0.7%, and a poll released on Monday by Realmeter showed that only 50.4% of respondents said Yoon would carry out his presidential duties well, while 45.3% expected a poor performance. Newly elected presidents in South Korea have typically enjoyed a honeymoon period with much higher approval ratings.
Yoon shot to fame after investigating Park, who was convicted of colluding with a friend to solicit millions of dollars from large corporations, which were then transferred to her friend's family and several non-profit groups. (Reuters)
April
Egypt eyes adding India as a wheat import origin this month- Ministry
Written by Nur Yasmin
Egypt's Supply Ministry has confirmed that it is considering this month adding wheat from India to 16 other national import origins accepted by its state grains buyer, as it seeks to shore up purchases disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A delegation from Egypt's Agriculture Ministry is in India "looking at phytosanitary measures and examining Indian grains in preparation for the accreditation of India as a wheat import origin," the Supply Ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
Egypt, often the world's top wheat importer, usually buys the grain via tenders set by its state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC). Purchases go toward heavily subsidised bread available to more than 60 million Egyptians.
GASC's tender book currently has 16 accredited wheat import origins, including Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany, Kazakhstan and the United States. The most recent addition, Latvia, was added last November.
GASC often prefers Black Sea wheat because of its proximity, quality and competitive prices, usually forgoing offers from other origins. In its last tender, a rare U.S. wheat bid was offered but was not purchased.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February has driven up global wheat prices and disrupted Black Sea shipping, though wheat shipments from Russia continued in March. read more
Future purchases of Indian wheat would depend on suppliers "offering competitive bids at unique prices in GASC's tenders, as well as on the quantities offered," the Supply Ministry said.
India is looking to take advantage of the gap in the wheat export market left by the Ukrainian crisis. read more Despite surplus wheat stocks, logistical bottlenecks and quality concerns have previously stymied India's efforts to sell large volumes on the world market.
"Since the Egyptian delegation is here, it very clearly means that they are serious about (buying wheat from India)," Sudhanshu Pandey, the top official at India's food ministry, told Reuters.
Egypt has been working to diversify its purchases, holding talks with France, Argentina, and the United States. read more
The government is studying different ways to purchase wheat, according to several traders, including by issuing limited origin tenders or direct purchases outside the tender framework.
On Monday, GASC issued a limited tender to purchase wheat of European origins only. It cancelled two tenders shortly after the Ukraine war started.
It is unclear whether the government will initiate direct purchases, but traders have said the process could be hindered by Egypt's regulatory framework. (Reuters)
April
Egypt state-backed body says it's tracking probe into researcher's death
Written by Nur Yasmin
Egypt's state-appointed human rights council has urged prosecutors to investigate whether an economic researcher who authorities say died after being interned in a psychiatric hospital was a victim of forced disappearance.
The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) also said in a statement posted late on Monday that it was awaiting the result of an autopsy of the economist, Ayman Hadhoud, to see if he was subjected to torture before his death.
Forced disappearance is a term activists use for detentions carried out by security agencies during which lawyers and relatives are not officially informed about the whereabouts of detainees or the charges against them. Authorities deny that they take place.
Hadhoud was an economist and member of the Reform and Development Party, a liberal party with a small presence in parliament. Its leader, Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, sits on the NCHR and has mediated some recent prisoner releases.
Egypt's public prosecution said in a statement that police arrested Hadhoud on Feb. 6 after a guard found him trying to enter an apartment in Cairo's Zamalek neighbourhood, and that prosecutors sent him to a mental health hospital after judging him "incomprehensible" during interrogation.
An interior ministry statement said he was arrested over a break-in and sent to the hospital after questioning. Egypt's state information service gave no immediate comment on the case.
The prosecution said it was notified of Hadhoud's death from cardiac arrest on March 5.
Hadhoud's brother has been quoted by local media raising concerns about the case, saying the family were only informed of his death last week and that an autopsy was not ordered until Sunday.
Two security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hadhoud had been detained in February on accusations of spreading false news, disturbing the public peace, and joining a banned group - generally a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and a charge often levelled at political dissidents and activists.
There has been a far-reaching crackdown on political dissent in Egypt since then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the overthrow of democratically elected president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
Rights groups say tens of thousands of Islamists and liberal dissidents have been detained and many have been denied due process or been subjected to abuse or poor prison conditions. Officials say security measures were needed to stabilise Egypt, deny the existence of political prisoners, and assert that the judiciary is independent.
The NCHR said it was coordinating with the public prosecution and interior ministry over 19 complaints it had received about alleged cases of forced disappearance since it was reconstituted late last year, as well as complaints about extended pre-trial detention and inhumane treatment in prisons.
The revival of the NCHR, which had been in abeyance for several years, is one of a series of steps Egyptian authorities have taken in recent months in what they say is an effort to address human rights. Critics have dismissed those efforts as hollow. (Reuters)
April
Johnson and Biden discussed boosting support for Ukraine-Downing Street
Written by Nur Yasmin
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed boosting military and economic support to Ukraine on Tuesday as well as the need to end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas, a spokeswoman for Johnson's office said.
"The leaders discussed the need to accelerate assistance to Ukraine, including bolstering military and economic support, as the Ukrainian forces prepare for another Russian onslaught in the east of the country," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
"The pair also agreed to continue joint efforts to ratchet up the economic pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and decisively end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas." (Reuters)
April
Khamenei says Iran's future should not be tied to nuclear talks with world powers
Written by Nur Yasmin
Iran's supreme leader said on Tuesday that his country's future should not be tied to the success or collapse of nuclear talks with world powers, Iranian state media reported, adding that the negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal "are progressing well".
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters such as Iran's nuclear programme, made the comments about a month after almost a year of indirect talks between Iran and the United States stalled. Both countries blame each other for lack of "political will" to settle remaining issues.
"Absolutely do not wait for nuclear negotiations in planning for the country and move forward," Khamenei told a gathering of senior officials, state TV reported.
"Do not let your work be disrupted whether the negotiations reach positive or semi-positive or negative results."
In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump left the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. A year later, Iran started to violate the limits imposed on its nuclear programme by the 2015 agreement to make it harder to develop a bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful use only.
"The United States broke its promises (by exiting the deal) and now they have reached a dead end while Iran is not in such a situation," Khamenei said, while calling on Iran's nuclear negotiators to continue "resisting America's excessive demands".
One of the unresolved issues is whether Washington would remove Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, as demanded by Tehran in order for the deal to be revived.
Critics of dropping the IRGC from the list, as well as those open to the idea, say doing so will have little economic effect because other U.S. sanctions force foreign actors to shun the group. read more
The IRGC, created by the Islamic Republic's late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is more than just a military force and has enormous political clout. It was placed under sanctions in 2017 and put on the FTO list in April of 2019.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the IRGC was sanctioned as a "specially designated global terrorist" (SDGT) on a separate U.S. list. (Reuters)