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March
South Korea detects activity to restore some tunnels at North Korea nuclear test site
Written by nuke
A satellite photo of the Punggye-Ri nuclear test site in North Korea May 14, 2018. (Image: Planet Labs Inc/Handout via REUTERS) -
South Korea's military said on Friday (Mar 11) it had detected activity at North Korea's nuclear test site to restore at least some tunnels that were demolished in 2018 when the site was closed.
North Korea has not tested a nuclear bomb or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017 but has said it could resume such testing with denuclearisation talks with the United States stalled.
Amid a flurry of now-moribund diplomacy in 2018, North Korea used explosives to demolish the entrances to some underground tunnels at Punggye-ri, its only known nuclear test site.
"Activity to restore part of the tunnels at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site that were destroyed on May 24, 2018, has been detected," South Korea's military said in a statement, without elaborating on the type of activity.
South Korea is closely cooperating with its US allies to monitor the activities, the statement added.
The report came after the National Security Council said on Sunday it was paying particularly close attention to Punggye-ri and the main nuclear reactor site at Yongbyon.
Images captured by commercial satellite a week ago showed very early signs of activity at the site, including the construction of a new building, repair of another building, and what was possibly some lumber and sawdust, specialists at the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) said in a report released on Tuesday.
International monitors have also reported the nuclear reactor facility at Yongbyon appears to be in full swing, potentially creating fuel for nuclear weapons.
North Korea recently used what would be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile system in two secretive launches, likely paving the way for a resumption of long-range tests, US and South Korean officials said on Friday//CNA
March
Chinese city locks down, Shanghai shuts schools as COVID-19 spikes
Written by nuke
People queue for COVID-19 tests in Shanghai as dozens of cases emerged in the eastern economic hub in recent days (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal) -
A Chinese city of nine million was ordered into lockdown on Friday (Mar 11) and Shanghai shut its schools as authorities scrambled to halt a COVID-19 outbreak that has pushed nationwide cases to their highest levels in two years.
Changchun, the capital of northeastern Jilin province and an important industrial base, ordered residents to stay at home, allowing one person out every two days to buy "daily necessities".
The city also halted all public transport, ordered schools and businesses shut and said it would institute mass testing.
China's daily coronavirus case count soared past the 1,000 mark this week for the first time since the pandemic's early days in 2020.
That is up from fewer than 100 cases just three weeks ago as the highly transmissible Omicron variant challenges China's zero-COVID approach to tackling the pandemic.
COVID-19 was first detected in China in late 2019 but the government has kept its case count extremely low by international standards with a combination of snap lockdowns, mass testing and largely closed borders.
There were 1,369 cases across more than a dozen provinces, according to Friday's daily official count.
Jilin, which has reported hundreds of cases in recent days, is one of more than a dozen provinces facing upticks along with major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Shanghai on Friday ordered its schools to close and shift to online instruction for the foreseeable future after dozens of cases emerged in the eastern economic hub in recent days.
And as cases increased, the country's National Health Commission announced Friday that they would introduce the use of rapid antigen tests.
The kits will now be available online or at pharmacies for clinics and ordinary citizens to buy for "self-test", the health commission said, although nucleic acid tests will continue to be the main method of testing.
The government has invested much of its prestige in its ability to control COVID-19, and Friday's measures appeared to pour cold water on hopes China would scrap its disruptive zero-tolerance approach anytime soon.
The drawbacks of a zero-COVID approach have been laid bare in Hong Kong, where mixed messages from the local government have fuelled hoarding of food supplies and public fears that people will be taken away to isolation.
Mainland China's most recent major lockdown came in December when the city of Xi'an kept its 13 million people home for two weeks due to an outbreak.
But in the face of rising pandemic fatigue, top Chinese officials have in recent weeks urged local officials throughout the country to avoid such drastic steps.
As cases have climbed since late February, only relatively soft or highly targeted measures have been taken in affected areas.
In Shanghai, however, authorities have increasingly moved to quickly lock down individual schools, businesses, restaurants and malls over close-contact fears.
This has given rise to online images of students and teachers in the city confined for up to 48 hours on campuses, and patrons locked in restaurants or malls while awaiting testing.
Social media chat groups have buzzed with each temporarily shuttered mall, and long lines have appeared outside hospitals as people rush to obtain a negative COVID test.
"Every day I go to work, I don't know if I can come home," said one Shanghai social media user.
"Going to work is like 'Squid Game', there are fewer and fewer people," the user added, referring to the South Korean television series depicting a series of life-or-death contests.
Some Shanghai museums will also be temporarily closed from Friday, the city government said.
China's central economic planning agency recently warned that big lockdowns can hurt the economy.
Last week, a top Chinese scientist said the country should aim to co-exist with the virus, like other nations//CNA
March
Cryptoasset sector told by UK regulators to comply with Russian sanctions
Written by nuke
Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA), the Britain's financial regulatory body, signage is seen at their head offices in London, Britain March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville -
Financial services firms including those in the cryptoasset sector were warned by Britain's regulatory bodies on Friday that they were expected to ensure sanctions imposed against entities and individuals in Russia and Belarus were complied with.
"We are working closely with partners in government and law enforcement both here and abroad, including regulatory authorities, to share intelligence and act to prevent sanctions evasion, including through cryptoassets," the financial regulators said.
"We also remain ready to act in the event of sanctions breaches," added the statement from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England.
The statement said the use of cryptoassets to circumvent economic sanctions was a criminal offence, and that sanctions regulations did not differentiate between cryptoassets and other forms of assets.
The FCA had already written to all registered cryptoasset firms and those holding temporary registration status to highlight those entities and individuals who had been sanctioned, it added.
"Both the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority will act if they see authorised financial institutions supporting cryptoasset firms operating in the UK illegally," the statement said.
A senior European Union official said last week that the European Commission is studying whether cryptoassets are being used to get round financial sanctions imposed on Russian banks//CNA
March
Eastern Europe under strain as Ukraine refugees keep coming
Written by nuke
People queue for shelter as they wait for transport after fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch -
Eastern Europe's efforts to aid Ukrainians came under strain on Friday (Mar 11), with some cities running out of accommodation as the number of refugees passed 2.5 million and fighting in their homeland.
Relief work in frontline states - Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova - has mainly been shouldered by ordinary citizens volunteering to drive, cook or house refugees, with the help of non-governmental organisations and local authorities.
But with the war now in its third week and the number of refugees swelling, it is becoming difficult to provide sufficient help.
In Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, one NGO described the situation at the train station as "tragic".
"There is nowhere to direct the refugees. They are stressed and confused, all kinds of help is needed, and above all, premises," tweeted Fundacja Brata Alberta, an NGO that in normal times helps individuals with mental disabilities.
In Hrubieszow, a Polish town on the Ukrainian border, Mayor Marta Majewska said she had spent all the town's crisis reserve of 100,000 zlotys (US$22,889), as well as 170,000 zlotys from the local province, to run a refugee reception centre.
"I am most worried about electricity bills," she told Radio Zet. "The city cannot bear it at all."
In Warsaw, the biggest temporary reception centre was about 70 per cent full by Thursday. Refugees now make up over 10per cent of the Polish capital's population, Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said.
Close to 4,000 Ukrainian children are now attending school in Warsaw, he added, with city authorities setting up 76 "preparatory classes" in which they learn Polish.
Trzaskowski separately called for other nations to step in, urging airlifts and a global system to manage the influx.
"We're getting overwhelmed ... We cannot improvise anymore," he told US television network MSNBC. "We need relocation in Europe and we need relocation in the world."
US President Joe Biden said on Friday the United States would welcome those fleeing the conflict.
"We're going to welcome Ukraine refugees with open arms if in fact they come all the way here," he told a group of US lawmakers. He gave no details.
In Przemysl, near Poland's busiest border crossing and a transit hub for refugees, Vice-Mayor Boguslaw Swiezy said he was seeing a decline in the number of volunteers, some of whom are students, others people taking time off work.
The Polish government will start reimbursing local governments' costs for handling refugees from next week, once a new law comes into force, the interior ministry said.
Romania's capital Bucharest was turning a convention centre and indoor arena, Romexpo, into its biggest refugee shelter yet, while Hungary was studying whether to turn museums, sports arenas and public buildings in Budapest into shelters.
The Hungarian government is also providing subsidies to employers who take on refugees to help cover accommodation and travel costs. In the Czech Republic, Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib called for more government funds to help accommodate refugees.
The United Nations bases its relief plans on 4 million people fleeing abroad, but has said it may need to revise the number higher.
The Polish Border Guard said 1.5 million people had entered Poland from Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.
Nearly 365,000 people have so far fled into Romania, 219,000 to Hungary and 176,000 to Slovakia, officials said. Nearly 200,000 have reached the Czech Republic, which does not share a border with Ukraine.
Others are reaching or are seen getting to German, Sweden and other countries in Western Europe.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special military operation to disarm its neighbour and dislodge its "neo-Nazi" leaders. Kyiv and its Western allies say this is a baseless pretext to invade a country of 44 million people//CNA
March
Singapore, Malaysia looking at timing, operational details of easing land border crossing
Written by nuke
A bus carrying passengers crosses the Causeway between Singapore and Malaysia on Nov 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) -
Authorities in Singapore and Malaysia are in discussions on when and how measures on land border crossings between the two countries can ease, and will share the details when they are ready, said Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong on Friday (Mar 11).
Earlier this week, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the country would fully reopen its borders on Apr 1 as it begins to transition to a COVID-19 endemic phase.
In response to queries by CNA on the announcement by Mr Ismail Sabri, the Ministry of Trade and Industry had said that the details on the land crossings were being worked out.
From Monday, the daily quota of people that can travel under the land vaccinated travel lane by coach between Singapore and Malaysia will rise from 2,160 to 3,420. This is on top of air vaccinated travel lanes between Singapore and the Malaysian cities of Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
Responding to a reporter's question on Friday on what "benchmarks" the Government was considering, Mr Gan said that this would include "operational details".
"I can share that we will be looking at cars, motorcycles and additional buses, including private coaches that may be engaged by companies for their workers to go to-and-fro," he said at the virtual press conference held by the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force.
"We are looking at various aspects and this also involves significant adjustment and fine-tuning of the operations on the ground."
He highlighted that currently there are a few thousand crossings a day, while "in time to come", there may be a "significant number" of people crossing on a daily basis.
"Therefore it is a major undertaking," said Mr Gan.
"Our land authority, our immigration department are in close discussion with our counterparts and also looking at operational details to ensure that when we are able to allow more traffic to cross, it can be done so smoothly and safely."
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung added that the timing of the easing is also under discussion between the two countries' health ministries.
"The two ministries of health are in constant touch and I think we need to time it right ... It must be done when the pandemic situation on both sides allow it," he said, adding that the date cannot be "predetermined".
"But this is something we are watching closely and when conditions allow, then we can talk about reopening," said Mr Ong//CNA
March
Hong Kong leader urges vaccinations as COVID-19 infections swamp city
Written by nuke
A general view of a COVID-19 isolation facility in Tsing Yi amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong on Mar 9, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu) -
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday (Mar 11) that the city's vaccination programme would focus on its elderly and children, as authorities battled to reduce a surge of COVID-19 infections and climbing death rates which have ripped through care homes and overwhelmed hospitals.
The global financial hub has reported more than 600,000 COVID-19 infections and more than 3,100 deaths - most of them in the past two weeks.
Hong Kong reported the most deaths per 1 million population globally in the week to Mar 9, according to data publication Our World in Data, most have been unvaccinated senior citizens.
Until this year, the Chinese-controlled hub had an enviable track record of controlling the virus due to stringent measures as part of its "zero COVID" approach, which, like mainland China, seeks to curb all outbreaks as soon as they occur.
However, many residents in the former British colony chose to remain unvaccinated for most of 2021, due to the minimal number of infections and fear of side effects, particularly among the elderly population.
"Over 90 per cent of the deaths were those who had not been fully vaccinated. We need to catch up and vaccinate every Hong Kong citizen," Lam told a daily news briefing on how her government was managing the virus.
While there has been a rapid pick up in vaccinations - more than 90 per cent of the population have now had at least one dose, rates among the more vulnerable elderly have lagged the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the city.
Only about 53 per cent of those over 80 years old are vaccinated, according to government data.
Lam said that her government was shifting its approach to target the elderly with more medical resources in its drive to combat the virus after a senior Chinese official said that Hong Kong needed to prioritise reducing deaths.
The government had previously focused on identifying, treating and isolating each infection even if they were mild or asymptomatic cases. It was also planning to hold a mass testing scheme for the city's 7.4 million residents in March.
Lam this week said that there was no time frame for the testing and it would only be done if there were sufficient resources.
Hospitals, morgues and isolation centres are overflowing while some supermarkets and grocery stores still have shelves empty nearly two weeks after residents started panic buying in fear over a potential city-wide lockdown.
Lam said that she was the "authoritative source" for all coronavirus information and would address any rumours or misinformation. Many residents have been frustrated and anxious at what they see about constant changes to the government's policy.
Lam said that her administration was managing the outbreak as best as possible with the policy changes made in order to achieve "the objectives of safety and health".
"This is an unprecedented situation, in terms of responding to an epidemic of this magnitude, it has outgrown the capacity of the Hong Kong government," she said//CNA
March
UN says not aware of any 'biological weapons program' in Ukraine
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: The United Nations headquarters building is pictured with a UN logo in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri -
The United Nations on Friday (Mar 11) said it was not aware of any biological weapons program in Ukraine while Washington and its allies voiced concerns Russia was spreading the unproven claim in order to launch its own biological or chemical attacks.
Russia called the meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council to reassert its unsubstantiated accusation that Ukraine ran biological warfare laboratories with US support.
The move risked backfiring on Moscow as members rejected the assertions as "a lie" and "utter nonsense" and used the session to amplify accusations that Russia has deliberately targeted and killed hundreds of civilians in its 15-day-old invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin calls "a special military operation."
Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the council that the United Nations is "not aware" of any biological weapons program in Ukraine, which ratified an international ban on such arms, as has Russia.
The Russian envoy to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, repeated the claim - without providing evidence - that Ukraine ran biological weapons laboratories with US Defense Department support.
Under a 2005 agreement, the Pentagon has assisted several Ukrainian public health laboratories with improving the security of dangerous pathogens and technology used to research. Those efforts have been supported by other countries and the World Health Organization.
The US envoy to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Washington was "deeply concerned" that Russia called the session as a "false flag effort" aimed at laying the groundwork for its own use of biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Although she did not immediately provide evidence of an imminent threat during the meeting of the 15-member council, she said: "Russia has a track record of falsely accusing other countries of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating."
She added: "We have serious concerns that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people.
"The intent behind these lies seems clear, and it is deeply troubling," she said. "We believe Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false flag incident, or to support tactical military operations."//CNA
March
Klitschko brothers say Kyiv supply lines open, residents returning to fight
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko visits a checkpoint of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 6, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko -
Kyiv mayor and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said on Friday (Mar 11) that he believed there were nearly 2 million people still left in the city, which is being squeezed by advancing Russian forces on several fronts.
He said the Ukrainian capital, normally with a population of 3.5 million, had enough vital provisions to last a couple of weeks, and that supply lines in and out remained open for now.
His brother Wladimir, also a heavyweight boxing star, added in a joint interview that some men and women who had accompanied their families to the relative safety of the west of the country were returning to take part in the city's defence.
"We guess close to 2 million people are still in Kyiv and it's very important to give services to people," Vitali told Reuters at a logistics centre in Kyiv where he and aides were coordinating food and medicine supplies to stores and people stranded at home.
"We have right now electricity, heating, gas, we have water," he added, speaking in English.
He thanked countries for sending supplies to Ukraine, and estimated that Kyiv had enough vital goods to last another two weeks.
Russia's military is already close to Kyiv to the west and northwest, where there has been heavy fighting, and has tried to move closer to the east and northeast.
Ukrainian officials say that its ultimate aim is to surround the city with a view to seizing it.
On Friday Russian forces were regrouping in the northwest, satellite pictures showed, in what Britain said could be preparation for an assault on the city within days.
"The target (of the Russian invasion) is the capital of Ukraine, the target is Kyiv," Vitali said. "We are ready to defend our city."
Hundreds of thousands of Kyiv residents have fled westwards as the fighting neared the city's outskirts, joining millions of others forced to leave homes behind by sometimes fierce bombardment.
Wladimir Klitschko, who has enlisted in Ukraine's reserve army, said some of the men and women who had got their families to safety were now returning to the capital.
"Yes there are a lot of refugees who left west, but a lot are coming back. A lot of men and women ... coming back to defend the country. This is our home. We are staying here. We are not leaving anywhere," he said.
Across Ukraine, thousands of civilians have joined local defence units to support regular troops.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" to disarm and "de-Nazify" the country. It denies targeting civilians.
Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of an invasion that has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in which hundreds of civilians have been killed and millions more displaced.
In Brovary, just to the east of Kyiv, residents out shopping for food remained defiant.
Dramatic footage released on Thursday showed a column of Russian tanks outside the town coming under artillery fire which appeared to strike some of the vehicles and forced others to retreat.
"There is no panic," said Brovary resident Larisa Ugviy after packing her shopping into a car with her husband.
"We try to calm down - cook something, do the cleaning, take care of the pets, walk them. So everything is alright. Life goes on, nobody panics, nobody. Trust me."//CNA
March
Japan, South Korea leaders agree to boost ties with U.S. to tackle North Korea
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said they had agreed on Friday to ramp up three-way ties with the United States in responding to North Korea's evolving military threat.
Kishida told reporters after a phone call with Yoon the two agreed to stay in close contact over North Korea and shared the view it would be good to meet as soon as possible.
North Korea recently used what would be its largest ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in two secretive launches, likely paving the way for a resumption of long-range tests, U.S. and South Korean officials said on Friday read more .
Kishida said pretty much all diplomatic options are open in dealing with North Korea, possibly including sanctions, and that Japan will stay in close contact with the United States and South Korea on any response.
A spokeswoman for Yoon, who won Wednesday's presidential election, said he expressed hopes for greater trilateral cooperation involving the United States in dealing with North Korea.
Relations between the two neighbours have been strained over issues stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonisation over the Korean peninsula, including victims of Japan's forced labour and mobilisation of wartime brothels.
Good bilateral ties are essential and need to be advanced given the state of world affairs, Kishida said.
Yoon told Kishida it would be important to resolve bilateral pending issues in a "reasonable, mutually beneficial manner," adding both sides have many areas of cooperation including regional security and the economy.
Yoon also shared condolences to the victims and the families of the 2011 earthquake that struck off the northeastern Japan, marking its 11th anniversary, she added. (reuters)
March
EXCLUSIVE Sri Lanka to start talks with IMF on debt restructuring - sources
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka will begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month on a plan to help the crisis-hit country, including assistance with debt restructuring and managing its foreign exchange shortage, three sources said on Friday.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst financial crisis in years. With foreign exchange reserves standing at a paltry $2.31 billion, the country is struggling to pay for critical imports including fuel, food and medicines. read more
The move to approach the IMF for help comes after months of resistance from Sri Lanka's government and central bank, despite calls from opposition leaders and experts to seek a bailout package.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa will travel to Washington D.C. in mid-April to present Sri Lanka's proposal to senior IMF officials, two sources with knowledge of the ongoing discussions told Reuters.
"We are taking our proposal and a plan," one of the sources said, declining to be named since the discussions are confidential. "The government is serious about fixing things."
The island nation has to repay about $4 billion in foreign debt this year, including a $1 billion international sovereign bond maturing in July.
"We will discuss options based on our plans," the source said.
Sri Lanka's finance ministry and the IMF did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.
'TOUGH SITUATION'
A combination of historically weak government finances, badly timed tax cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the country's lucrative tourism industry and foreign remittances, have wreaked havoc on Sri Lanka's economy. read more
In a periodic review last week, the IMF called on the government to implement a "credible and coherent" strategy to repay debt and restore macroeconomic stability. read more
"The country faces mounting challenges, including public debt that has risen to unsustainable levels, low international reserves, and persistently large financing needs in the coming years," the IMF said.
To find a way out of the crisis, the government will seek assistance with debt restructuring, the foreign exchange crisis, bolstering revenue generation and reforming state-owned enterprises, the source said.
"This is a tough situation," the source said, "We want to see what support we can get from the IMF."
In recent weeks, the country of 22 million has faced rolling electricity cuts. Bakeries have run out of gas and many fuel pumps have run dry. Soaring oil prices have added to the government's woes. read more
Late on Monday, Sri Lanka's Central Bank implemented a flexible exchange rate for the rupee, triggering a devaluation of about 30% and driving up the prices of many essential items. (reuters)