Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
February
Japan eyes tighter curbs to counter cyberattacks
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan will consider imposing tighter curbs on companies in security-sensitive sectors that procure overseas software as part of efforts to ramp up steps to counter cyberattacks, according to a proposal by a key panel released on Tuesday.
The move would be part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's initiative to defend Japan's economic security mainly against China, such as by preventing leaks of sensitive technology and building more resilient supply chains.
In the proposal, the panel called for crafting legislation that allows the government to order companies to provide advance information when updating software or procuring new equipment, and vet purchases that could put Japan at risk of cyberattacks.
The regulation would target companies in industries critical to national security such as energy, water supply, information technology, finance and transportation, the proposal said.
"Due to rapid digitalisation in today's world, almost all areas of economic activity including those involving critical infrastructure are targets of cyberattacks," the panel said, in explaining the need for fresh legislation.
"It's important to ensure any regulation does not excessively restrict business activity," it said.
The proposal by the panel of academics will serve as a platform for legislation the government will submit to parliament later this month.
Advanced economies, including the United States and Japan, have faced several major cyberattacks recently including those with ties to Russia and China. read more
Japan is under pressure to follow in the footsteps of the United States in boosting counter-measures against cyberattacks and compete with Beijing's growing push to export sensitive technologies such as commercial drones and security cameras.
Aside from domestic efforts, Tokyo is coordinating with its allies to help Asia boost resilience against risks to economic security, Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, told Reuters. read more
"Japan is working with the United States and Australia to support the creation of trustworthy communication infrastructure in Asia, mainly through funding aid via state-owned financial institutions," Kanda said. (Reuters)
February
Afghanistan's Taliban told they can't take their guns to the funfair
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taliban fighters will no longer be allowed to carry their weapons in amusement parks in Afghanistan, the group's spokesman said on Wednesday, in what appeared to be another effort by the country's new rulers to soften their image.
Taliban fighters, many of whom have spent most of their lives in a 20-year insurgency against a U.S.-backed government, flocked to amusement parks in Afghan cities in towns after they took over in August.
"Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are not allowed to enter amusement parks with weapons, military uniforms and vehicles," the main Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Twitter.
"(They) are obliged to abide by all the rules and regulations of amusement parks."
The Taliban earned a reputation as uncompromising and often brutal enforcers of their strict ways then they last ruled, between 1996 and 2001.
But since taking over in August, they have tried to present a more moderate face to their fellow Afghans and to the wider world, as an interim cabinet grapples with a looming humanitarian crisis.
Of particular attraction for Taliban fighters was one of Kabul's largest amusement parks and a waterside park at the Qargha reservoir, in the city's western outskirts. read more
Fighters clutching automatic rifles queued for up carousel and swinging pirate ship rides - with regular visitors looking on nervously.
Most of the fighters Reuters spoke to then had never been to Kabul until the Taliban took control of the capital on Aug. 15, and some were eager to visit the amusement park before returning to duties around the country. (Reuters)
February
Female students join male peers as Afghan universities reopen
Written by Nur Yasmin
Afghanistan's public universities on Wednesday opened for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year, with female students joining their male counterparts heading back to campus.
The Taliban administration had not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials told Reuters women were permitted to attend classes on the proviso they were physically separated from male students.
A Reuters witness in the eastern city of Jalalabad saw female students entering via a separate door at Nangarhar University, one of the large government universities opening this week.
Under its previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the hardline Islamist Taliban had barred women and girls from education. The group says it has changed since resuming power on Aug. 15 as foreign forces withdrew, but has been vague on its plans and high school-aged girls in many provinces have still not been allowed to return to school. Some private universities have reopened, but in many cases female students have not been able to return to class.
The international community has made education of girls and women a key part of its demands as the Taliban seek more foreign aid and the unfreezing of overseas assets.
The United Nations late on Tuesday praised the inclusion of female students at the country's public universities, appearing to indicate official confirmation.
"(The) U.N. welcomes the announcement that public universities will begin re-opening 2 February to all female and male students. So crucial that every young person has equal access to education," the U.N.'s mission to Afghanistan said in a Tweet late on Tuesday.
An education official who asked not be named because he was not authorised to speak to media said universities had been given different options to keep female students isolated, including separated classes and staggered operating hours to divide the genders.
Khalil Ahmad Bihsudwal, the head of Nangarhar University, told Reuters male and female students at the institution would attend separate classes, a practice already in place in many provinces.
Only universities in warmer provinces opened on Wednesday. Tertiary institutions in colder areas, including Kabul, are due to resume on Feb. 26. (Reuters)
February
Tonga goes into lockdown; COVID cases not at international aid port - official
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tsunami-hit Tonga said two wharf workers had come down with COVID-19, prompting the previously virus-free nation to go into lockdown on Wednesday, but the waterfront workers were not on docks being used by foreign navies to deliver aid.
There have been fears an influx of international ships and planes delivering badly-needed water, shelter and food after a devastating volcanic eruption had increased the risk of a pandemic outbreak in the isolated Pacific nation. Tonga had recorded only one previous COVID case.
The Australian navy ship, HMAS Adelaide, was known to have 23 COVID cases onboard when it docked at Vuna wharf last week and offloaded 250 pallets of aid to a quarantine zone.
Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, told Reuters the two cases were detected at a different wharf and "not the one that the HMAS Adelaide used".
"The wharf that had the case is a different one used for commercial cargoes," he said.
The delivery of aid would not change as a result of the COVID cases, he said, adding, "frontliners will need to be more careful".
The Australian Defence Force's Chief of Joint Operations Greg Bilton said it did not appear the HMAS Adelaide was the source and samples from the two wharf workers would be sent to Australia for testing to verify the origin of the COVID strain.
"I don't think there's any connection, there's no evidence of that," he told Sky News.
Tongan radio station BroadcomFM reported on Wednesday another three cases had been detected in a family, bringing total case numbers to five.
Tongans queued at shops and banks on Wednesday ahead of a lockdown to start at 6pm, as authorities attempt to stop the spread of COVID.
Health authorities were administering booster shots to the public on Wednesday, with more vaccine booster doses to arrive from Australia and New Zealand. Around 83% of the eligible population have received two doses of vaccine.
In addition to HMAS Adelaide, three New Zealand and one British naval ships, and two Chinese fishing ships from Fiji have come into port and unloaded aid pallets. French, Japanese and Chinese navy ships are also enroute carrying aid.
The Tongan government has insisted on contactless delivery of aid, and all pallets unloaded from aircraft or ships are isolated for 72 hours before being distributed by the local emergency service.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Tongan authorities said the two workers at Queen Salote wharf who tested positive were vaccinated, and it was unknown if they had the Omicron variant. (Reuters)
February
Tokyo's daily COVID-19 infections exceed 20,000 for first time
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tokyo's new COVID-19 cases exceeded 20,000 for the first time on Wednesday, dimming hopes that an Omicron-fuelled wave of infections in Japan is peaking out.
Nationwide cases reached a record 91,760, while 18 prefectures recorded all-time highs, according to a tally by online news service JX Press.
Tokyo reported 21,576 new cases, exceeding the previous record of 17,631 in Japan's capital on Friday.
The closely watched usage rate of hospital beds reserved for COVID-19 patients edged up to 51.4%. Officials previously said that a state of emergency would be needed if the rate reached 50%, but now say the decision will depend on the number of serious cases and other factors. read more
The capital and most of Japan are now under curbs to contain spread of the virus, with the latest wave of infections fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The western prefecture of Osaka reported 11,171 new infections, down from a record 11,881 on Tuesday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday the government is not planning to declare a state of emergency but remains vigilant. (Reuters)
February
Myanmar shadow government drops objections to ICJ's Rohingya genocide case
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's shadow government, set up after last year's military coup, said it accepts the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hear allegations that the country committed genocide against its Rohingya minority.
Before the military seized power last year, Myanmar's government led by the now-ousted Aung San Suu Kyi had filed preliminary objections to the ICJ over the case brought by Gambia in a move seen as likely to delay proceedings.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration including deposed lawmakers in exile, said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had withdrawn all preliminary objections to the case.
Still, it is not clear whether this would affect the legal process since the NUG said that through a "bureaucratic idiosyncrasy" the ICJ has been communicating with Myanmar diplomats in Brussels who were under the control of the junta.
"Should the ICJ recognise the military, it would embolden the junta to continue and escalate its daily atrocity crimes," the NUG said in a statement.
It urged the ICJ to deal with Myanmar's permanent representative to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun.
The ICJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a spokesman for Myanmar's junta did not answer a telephone call seeking comment.
More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2017 after a military crackdown.
Rights groups documented killings of civilians and burning of villages and U.N. investigators concluded that the military campaign, launched after attacks on the security forces by Rohingya insurgents, had been executed with "genocidal intent".
In December 2019, Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's civilian leader, attended hearings at The Hague to ask judges to dismiss the case.
Suu Kyi has been put on trial by the junta and faces years in jail, though the removal of her government has sparked mass protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent by the army.
With Myanmar's military government fighting for international recognition, sources close to the case have previously said the junta has been engaging with the ICJ to submit court-ordered reports every six months on the situation with the Rohingya. The reports are not public. (Reuters)
February
U.N. urges Taliban to release information about missing journalists
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United Nation's mission to Afghanistan on Tuesday called on the Taliban administration to release details on the detention of two Afghan journalists who disappeared the previous day.
A Taliban administration spokesman, Bilal Karimi, said it was investigating the men's abduction and denied they had been arrested.
"Mounting concern about restrictions on media & free expression. UN urges Taliban to make public why they detained these...reporters & to respect Afghan's rights," said the U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a Tweet.
Ali Asghari, news manager at local broadcaster Ariana News, said that on Monday afternoon two of its journalists were taken, but the identity of the abductors was not clear.
Fears for the safety of vocal opponents of the Taliban and prominent women have risen since the Islamist group took over the country in August as foreign forces withdrew. Many civil society and women's rights activists fled the country.
Also on Tuesday, the UN's human rights spokesperson gave a briefing in Geneva expressing major concern over the disappearance of six people last month in connection with women's rights protests.
"We are gravely concerned for their well-being and safety," said U.N. human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasan, adding there were other reports of other house searches of activists.
"These reports have also brought into focus what appears to be a pattern of arbitrary arrests and detentions."
Another Taliban administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the UN human rights spokeswoman's assessment, saying it was investigating the situation involving the abducted women.
The Taliban says they have an amnesty for any previous opponents, including Afghan military members, and that they respect women's rights in line with Islamic law and customs, but many human rights advocates and foreign diplomats remain sceptical. (Reuters)
February
Japan parliament adopts resolution on human rights in China
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's parliament adopted a rare resolution on Tuesday on what it called the "serious human rights situation" in China, and asked the government to take steps to relieve the situation.
Japan has already announced it will not send a government delegation to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, following a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott over concerns about China's human rights condition, although Tokyo avoided explicitly labelling its move as such.
Since taking office in October, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said on multiple occasions that Japan would not mince words with China when necessary, and in November appointed former defence minister Gen Nakatani as his aide on human rights.
The resolution, adopted by the lower chamber, said the international community has expressed concerns over such issues as internment and the violation of religious freedom in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Tibet and Hong Kong.
"Human rights issues cannot just be domestic issues, because human rights hold universal values and are a rightful matter of concern for the international community," the resolution said.
"This chamber recognises changes to the status quo with force, which are symbolised by the serious human rights situation, as a threat to the international community," it said.
China's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the resolution "ignores the facts, maliciously slanders China's human rights situation, seriously violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and is extremely egregious in nature."
When Japan launched a war against other countries, it committed countless crimes, the statement added.
U.S. President Joe Biden in December signed into law legislation that bans imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labour. Washington has labelled Beijing's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority genocide.
China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels.
The conservative wing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) sought the adoption of the resolution ahead of the Feb. 4 opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics although there were worries in the government about a potential economic impact, Jiji news agency has said.
There have long been competing views within the LDP about the approach to China. The party's more conservative wing is hawkish on China policy and seen as concerned primarily with defence issues. Other members of the party have pushed to preserve Japan's deep economic ties with its neighbour.
The parliamentary resolution called on the Japanese government to work with the international community in addressing the issue.
"The government should collect information to grasp the whole picture ... , monitor the serious human right situation in cooperation with the international community, and implement comprehensive relieving measures," it said.
The resolution did not directly use the word "China" anywhere in the text, and steered clear of such expression as "human rights violation", saying, instead, "human rights situation", in a possible nod to close bilateral economic ties.
Japan relies on China not only as a manufacturing hub, but also as a market for items from automobiles to construction equipment. (Reuters)
February
U.S. asks U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday on N.Korea -diplomats
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States, supported by Britain and France, has asked the U.N. Security Council to meet behind closed-doors on Thursday over North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, diplomats said on Tuesday.
North Korea confirmed on Monday it had launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, the same weapon it had once threatened to target the U.S. territory of Guam with, sparking fears the nuclear-armed state could resume long-range testing.
The launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile was first reported by South Korean and Japanese authorities on Sunday. It was the seventh test conducted by North Korea last month and the first time a nuclear-capable missile of that size has been launched since 2017.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned the launch and urged Pyongyang "to desist from taking any further counter-productive actions," a U.N. spokesman said.
"This is a breaking of the DPRK's announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature, and a clear violation of Security Council resolution," said deputy U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq, using the official name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"It is of great concern that the DPRK has again disregarded any consideration for international flight or maritime safety," Haq added in a statement.
Since 2006, North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions, which the Security Council has strengthened over the years in an effort to target funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
China and Russia last month delayed a U.S. bid to impose U.N. sanctions on five North Koreans, diplomats said. (Reuters)
February
Huge volumes of COVID hospital waste threaten health - WHO
Written by Nur Yasmin
Discarded syringes, used test kits and old vaccine bottles from the COVID-19 pandemic have piled up to create tens of thousands of tonnes of medical waste, threatening human health and the environment, a World Health Organization report said on Tuesday.
The material, a portion of which could be infectious since coronavirus can survive on surfaces, potentially exposes health workers to burns, needle-stick injuries and disease-causing germs, the report said.
Communities close to poorly-managed landfills can also be affected through contaminated air from burning waste, poor water quality or disease-carrying pests, it added.
The report calls for reform and investment including through the reduction in the use of packaging that has caused a rush for plastic and the use of protective gear made from reusable and recyclable materials.
It estimates that some 87,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE), or the equivalent of the weight of several hundred blue whales, has been ordered via a U.N. portal up until Nov. 2021 - most of which is thought to have ended up as waste.
The report also mentions some 140 million test kits with a potential to generate 2,600 tonnes of mostly plastic trash and enough chemical waste to fill one-third of an Olympic swimming pool.
In addition, it estimates that some 8 billion vaccine doses administered globally have produced an additional 144,000 tonnes of waste in the form of glass vials, syringes, needles, and safety boxes.
The WHO report did not name specific examples of where the most egregious build-ups occurred but referred to challenges such as the limited official waste treatment and disposal in rural India as well as large volumes of faecal sludge from quarantine facilities in Madagascar.
Even before the pandemic, around a third of healthcare facilities were not equipped to handle existing waste (reuters)