Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
October
South Korea launches panel to debate 'living with COVID-19'
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea established a panel on Wednesday to debate a strategy on how to "live with COVID-19" in the long-term, as the country seeks to phase out coronavirus restrictions and reopen the economy amid rising vaccination levels.
Under the strategy, the government aims to relax coronavirus restrictions for citizens who can prove they have been fully vaccinated, while encouraging asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients aged below 70 to recover at home, the health ministry said last week.
The government will also focus on the number of hospitalisations and deaths rather than new daily infections, and will consider not publishing the latter on a daily basis, Yonhap news agency has reported.
"We will turn COVID-19 into a controlled infectious disease and no longer a fear of the unknown, and return a complete routine to the citizens," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told the panel's first committee meeting on Wednesday, adding that mandatory mask-wearing would not be immediately scrapped under the new policy.
South Korea never imposed a full lockdown but has been under its tightest social distancing curbs since July.
These include limited operating hours for restaurants, cafes, saunas and indoor gyms - which have hit the self-employed and small businesses particularly hard - and a cap on gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) in and around Seoul.
The new strategy comes as vaccination, initially bogged down by a supply shortage, has picked up pace. The country has given at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose to 78.1% of its population, while 60.7% are fully vaccinated.
In September, the government announced plans to expedite a phased return to normalcy starting November when 70% of its 52 million people are expected to have been fully inoculated.
South Korea has kept hospitalisation and deaths at a fairly low rate. It had 359 severe cases and a mortality rate 0.78% as of Tuesday, official data showed.
The country reported 1,584 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. It has recorded a total of 335,742 infections and 2,605 deaths.
October
Japan's largest opposition party focuses on human rights in party platform
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's largest opposition group unveiled a campaign platform on Wednesday that said it would stand for rights like supporting same-sex marriage and different surnames for couples, marking out differences with the conservative ruling party.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), led by Yukio Edano, is facing a critical test in the Oct 31 general election, the first it is contesting since its formation last year, hoping to make a dent in the ruling party coalition that holds a clear majority in parliament.
But it is struggling in opinion polls, and with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also emphasizing social safety nets and similar policies long espoused by the Democratic Party from which the CDPJ was formed, it is facing a battle to stake out its own territory.
Party president Yukio Edano told a news conference that the emphasis on legal steps towards diversity would be one of the biggest differences between the two groups - although the CDPJ also wants to steer away from nuclear power, which the LDP would retain as an option.
"This is clearly our biggest difference - (allowing) couples with different surnames, equality laws for LGBTQ, and laws recognising same-sex marriage," he said.
"We'd like a comprehensive strengthening of human rights so nobody is left behind."
The LDP remains socially conservative and, while progress has been made on LGBTQ rights in society, much more needs to be done. New Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during the LDP leadership race that he was not in favour of same-sex marriage, for example.
The CDPJ's roots lie in the Democratic Party of Japan, which succeeded in defeating the LDP-Komeito alliance in 2009, and held power for a bit more than three years - a period that included the March 11, 2011 tsunami and disaster at the nuclear power station in Fukushima which tinged the party with an image of failure in the eye of voters.
A recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun daily found only 13% were planning to vote for them, far behind the LDP's 47%; most other polls record support in the single digits.
Moreover, the LDP has co-opted several of their positions on social safety nets and income distribution, said Airo Hino, a political science professor at Waseda University in Tokyo.
"Kishida has really drawn a lot closer in his policies to what the CDPJ has been saying, so it's going to be pretty hard for them to stand out," he said.
Criticising the LDP may be one way for it to do so. Edano said Kishida's administration was no different from those of his predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. Suga's tenure, in particular, saw the LDP's popularity nosedive, while the last days of Abe were marred by money scandals.
"If either Abe or Suga was in power, it would be a lot easier for the opposition," Hino said. "But with Kishida, it's hard to see how far criticism will take them unless they can develop their own distinct character."
October
New Zealand seeks to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations amid persistent cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand expects to administer a record 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day during a mass immunisation drive on Oct. 16, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she seeks to accelerate inoculations before easing curbs in Auckland.
Ardern on Tuesday urged the country's population over 12 years of age "to roll up sleeves for New Zealand and help make us (one of) the most vaccinated and therefore protected countries in the world". Some 2.44 million, or 58% of the population over 12, have been fully vaccinated so far.
"There is nothing stopping us other than people (not) showing up," Ardern said during a media briefing in Wellington.
New Zealand, which had stayed largely virus-free for most of the pandemic until a Delta outbreak in mid-August, has recorded 4,345 confirmed cases overall and 28 deaths.
It reported 43 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with a bulk of those in its largest city of Auckland, up from 35 a day earlier.
Auckland's 1.7 million residents entered lockdown in mid-August in an effort to quell the Delta outbreak. Some curbs were eased last week including leaving homes to connect with loved ones outdoors, with a limit of 10 people, as well as go to beaches and parks. (Reuters)
October
Japan's ruling party unveils manifesto with focus on coronavirus, defence
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) unveiled on Tuesday its manifesto for an Oct. 31 election with a focus on ending the coronavirus pandemic, promises to rebuild the middle class and defend against an increasingly assertive China.
The party's leader, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, enjoys a reasonable level of public support a week into the job, polls show, boding well for his goal of maintaining a lower house majority for the LDP and its Komeito party coalition partner.
"We would like to show solid measures and appeal to the people, first, how to confront the coronavirus ... and to bring peace of mind and hope to the people," LDP policy chief Sanae Takaichi told a news conference.
Voters will want to see a government with plans for decisive action to bring an end to the pandemic and rebuild a weak economy. A recent Sankei newspaper poll showed that about 48% say they want the Kishida administration to work on coronavirus most, followed by economic recovery and employment.
The manifesto highlighted coronavirus measures including supplying oral antiviral medication this year, as well as Kishida's vision of realising a "new capitalism" that focuses on economic growth and redistribution of wealth.
The LDP said in its manifesto it would expand support for small and medium businesses hit by the pandemic and offer subsidies for enterprises if they move into new industries.
Fortunately for Kishida, the coronavirus situation has improved, with the smallest number of new cases on Monday since the middle of last year.
But Kishida is taking nothing for granted and told parliament earlier on Tuesday the government would plan for a worst-case coronavirus scenario by securing more health resources and preparing to start giving booster shots in December.
Asked about how the government would respond to excessive yen declines, Kishida said he would closely watch the impact of currency moves, noting that a weak yen increases costs for companies by pushing up import prices. read more
MORE ON DEFENCE
On security, the LDP said it would "reconsider" its response to an increase in China's military activity around the Taiwan strait and islets in the western Pacific controlled by Japan but also claimed by China.
The government would aim to raise its defence budget "with an eye to bringing it even above two percent" of gross domestic product (GDP), the party said.
Japan's defence spending has stayed around 1% of GDP in recent decades.
Kishida, a former foreign minister seen as a safe if lacklustre pair of hands, has a 49% approval rating, according to poll published by state-run broadcaster NHK late on Monday.
That is lower than the approval enjoyed by some predecessors at the beginning of their tenures but support for Kishida's government was higher than the most recent ratings for that of his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga.
Suga grew deeply unpopular as he struggled to contain a fifth wave of coronavirus infections and stepped down last month after only a year in office.
Kishida can take more cheer from the Sankey survey published on Monday that showed 63% of respondents supported his administration, with many voters saying there was no better person than him for the job of prime minister.
The poll showed a solid 45% rate of voter support for the LDP, with backing for opposition parties hovering around the single digits. (Reuters)
October
Afghan minister wants good relations, needs more time on girls' education
Written by Nur Yasmin
Afghanistan's foreign minister appealed to the world for good relations on Monday but avoided making firm commitments on girls' education despite international demands to allow all Afghan children to go back to school.
Almost two months after the former Western-backed government collapsed and insurgent forces swept into Kabul, the new Taliban administration has pushed to build relations with other countries to help stave off a catastrophic economic crisis.
"The international community need to start cooperating with us," acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at an event organized by Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. "With this we will be able to stop insecurity and at the same time with this we will be able to engage positively with the world."
But the Taliban have so far refused to give ground on allowing girls to return to high school, one of the key demands of the international community after a decision last month that schools above the sixth grade would only reopen for boys.
Muttaqi said the Taliban's Islamic Emirate government was moving carefully but had only been in power for a few weeks and could not be expected to complete reforms the international community had not been able to implement in 20 years.
"They had a lot of financial resources and they had a strong international backing and support but at the same time you are asking us to do all the reforms in two months?" he said.
The new administration has come under sustained criticism for its approach to girls' education, considered one of the limited number of unambiguously positive gains from the West's two decades of involvement in Afghanistan.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the Taliban had broken promises on guaranteeing rights for women and girls and there was no way the economy could be fixed if women were barred from work. read more
Muttaqi repeated calls for the United States to lift a block on more than $9 billion of Afghan central bank reserves held outside the country but said the government had revenues of its own from taxes, customs tariffs and agriculture if the funds remain frozen.
He said Taliban forces had full control of the country and were able to control the threat from Islamic State militants who have claimed a series of deadly attacks in recent weeks, including last week's bombing at a Shi'ite mosque in the northern city of Kunduz.
"The Daesh issue has been controlled by the Islamic Emirate very well so far," he said using a derogatory term for the radical Sunni group but adding that international pressure on the government was helping Islamic State's morale.
"Instead of pressure the world should cooperate with us." (Reuters)
October
Energy crunch stokes inflation, economic recovery fears
Written by Nur Yasmin
Authorities from Beijing to Chennai scrambled to fill a yawning power supply gap on Tuesday, triggering global stock and bond market wobbles on worries that rising energy costs will stoke inflation and curtail an economic recovery.
Power prices have surged to record highs in recent weeks, driven by shortages in Asia, Europe and the United States, with an energy crisis in China expected to last through to the end of the year and crimp growth in the world's second-largest economy and top exporter.
China on Tuesday took its boldest step in a decades-long power sector reform, saying it will allow coal-fired power plants to pass on the high costs of generation to some end-users via market-driven electricity prices.
Pushing all industrial and commercial users to the power exchanges and allowing prices to be set by the market is expected to encourage loss-making generators to increase output.
The impact of supply crunches in power and manufacturing components is showing up in data from Tokyo to London, adding to a deepening disquiet in global markets and underscoring the difficulty in cutting the world's dependency on polluting fossil fuels a month before global climate change talks.
A sell-off in global stocks and bonds extended into Tuesday, taking short-dated U.S. Treasury yields to 18-month highs, while world stocks fell for a third straight day on fears that energy prices were putting a dampener on economic growth.
Data on Tuesday showed Japanese wholesale inflation hit 13-year highs last month, while shoppers in Britain slashed spending and China recorded a 20% drop in car sales.
China's latest reform follows a raft of measures including urging coal miners to boost output and manage electricity demand at industrial plants to tame the record-high coal prices and to ease the power crunch across the country, with utilities unable to keep up with post-pandemic demand.
And in a move that could push up already high global prices, India on Tuesday allowed power producers to blend imported coal with local grades to meet increased demand.
Asia's third-largest economy is facing large-scale outages as several power plants have low coal inventories as a result of the sharp spike in global energy prices.
Earlier, India's power ministry warned states that federal power producers will curtail supply to them if their utilities are found selling power on exchanges to take advantage of surging prices.
The ministry said it had directed power companies to boost supply to the capital Delhi, whose chief minister warned on Saturday of a potential power crisis.
'DO MORE'
Oil rose towards $84 a barrel on Tuesday, within sight of a three-year high, as a rebound in global demand after the COVID-19 pandemic caused price spikes and shortages in other energy sources. Coal has scaled record peaks and gas prices remain four times higher in Europe than at the start of 2021.
OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers led by Russia, is increasing output monthly to address recovering demand as it undoes curbs it put in place to support prices and oversupply.
The price of Brent crude has surged by more than 60% this year, supported by those OPEC+ supply curbs as well as record European gas prices, which have encouraged a switch to oil in some places.
Brent crude was up 24 cents or 0.3% at $83.89 a barrel at 0810 GMT. On Monday it reached $84.60, its highest since October 2018. U.S. oil gained 21 cents or 0.3% to $80.73 and on Monday hit $82.18, its highest since late 2014.
The sharp rise has meant OPEC+ has come under pressure from consumer nations, with a U.S. official on Monday saying the White House stands by its calls for oil-producing countries to "do more" to ease the situation.
A Russian official said on Tuesday that energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has started using its inventories to pump more natural gas into the pipeline network to stabilise surging prices.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in a BBC interview, rejected any suggestion that Russia was withholding gas from the European market. A group of European Parliament lawmakers has asked the European Commission to investigate Gazprom's role in the rising prices.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday the country wants to be a leader in green hydrogen by 2030 and build new, smaller nuclear reactors as part of a 30 billion euro ($35 billion) investment plan. (Reuters)
October
Malaysia hopes for ASEAN consensus on Australian nuclear sub pact
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysia is hoping for a clear consensus among Southeast Asian nations on a new Indo-Pacific security partnership between Australia, the United States and Britain, its defence minister said on Tuesday.
The alliance known as AUKUS, announced last month, will see Australia acquiring technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines as part of an agreement intended to respond to growing Chinese power, especially in the strategically important South China Sea.
The plan has divided countries in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and Malaysia warning that it could lead to an arms race among rival superpowers in the region, while the Philippines, a U.S. defence ally, has backed the pact.
Malaysia's Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told parliament on Tuesday a meeting with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) scheduled next month will present an opportunity for the bloc to agree on a shared response to AUKUS.
"Our endgame as always is to ensure the region's stability, regardless of the balance of powers (between) the U.S. or China," he said.
"An understanding at ASEAN will help us in facing these two major powers."
AUKUS is largely seen as a response by Western allies to avert a Chinese hegemony in Southeast Asia, particularly in the South China Sea, a conduit for a third of ship-borne trade over which Beijing claims historical sovereignty.
Malaysia's foreign ministry last week summoned China's ambassador to Kuala Lumpur to protest the presence of Beijing's vessels in its waters. read more
China has said the AUKUS plan risks severely damaging regional peace and stability.
The United States, however, has said the alliance poses no threat to Indo-Pacific security and was not aimed at any one country. (Reuters)
October
EU increases aid pledge to Afghanistan and its neighbours to 1 bln euros
Written by Nur Yasmin
The European Union will give an additional 700 million euros ($809.2 million) in emergency aid to Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries, the European Commission said ahead of Tuesday's Group of 20 Afghan summit.
The pledge takes the total commitment of new funding to 1 billion euros after the EU executive's earlier promise of 300 million euros to help to prevent basic services in Afghanistan from collapsing and food from running out.
"We must do all we can to avert a major humanitarian and socio-economic collapse in Afghanistan," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, adding that the Islamic militants who seized Kabul on Aug. 15 must first meet the EU's five conditions for longer-term aid. (Reuters)
October
Flanked by nuclear missile, N.Korean leader says U.S., S.Korea threaten peace
Written by Nur Yasmin
Standing beside North Korea's largest missiles, leader Kim Jong Un said his country's weapons development is necessary in the face of hostile policies from the United States and a military buildup in South Korea, state media said on Tuesday.
Pyongyang was only increasing its military in self-defence and not to start a war, Kim said in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition on Monday, according to a report by state news agency KCNA.
Kim made the remarks standing next to a variety of weapons, including the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), photos in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed. Among them was the Hwasong-16, North Korea's largest ICBM, unveiled at a military parade in October 2020, but not yet test fired.
"We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty," he said, adding that North Korea's main enemy is "war itself".
A spokesperson for South Korea's defence ministry told a briefing that South Korean and the U.S. intelligence agencies are already analysing the equipment displayed at the exhibition and will continue to closely monitor the situation.
The two Koreas have been in an accelerating arms race, with both sides testing increasingly advanced short-range ballistic missiles and other hardware.
South Korea recently test fired its first submarine-launched ballistic missile, plans to build major new weapons include aircraft carriers, and has bought American-made F-35 stealth fighters.
North Korea has pushed ahead with its missile programme, and analysts say it has begun a major expansion of its main nuclear reactor, used to produce fuel for nuclear bombs.
The United States has said it is willing to hold diplomatic talks at any time with North Korea. Pyongyang has said it is not interested as long as Washington maintains policies such as sanctions and military activities in South Korea.
The United States' assertions that it holds no hostile feelings toward North Korea are hard to believe in the face of its continued "wrong judgments and actions," Kim said, without elaborating.
South Korea's national security adviser, Suh Hoon, is expected to meet with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington on Tuesday to discuss North Korea.
When he arrived in Washington on Monday, Suh told reporters he planned to discuss President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a formal declaration ending the 1950-1953 Korean War - which ended in an armistice, not a formal peace treaty - and for possible easing of sanctions on North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
Last week the two Koreas restored their hotlines that the North severed months ago, with Pyongyang urging Seoul to step up efforts to improve relations after criticising what it called double standards over weapons development.
South Korea's "unrestricted and dangerous" efforts to strengthen its military is "destroying the military balance in the Korean peninsula and increasing military instability and danger," Kim said in his speech on Monday.
"Under the absurd pretext of suppressing our threats, South Korea has openly expressed its desire to gain an edge over us in military power on various occasions," he added. (Reuters)
October
Kremlin says it disagrees with Japan's sovereignty claim over islands
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it disagreed with comments by new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that Japan's sovereignty extended to a chain of islands known by Tokyo as the Northern Territories, and that they were in fact part of Russia.
"We do not agree with such a statement," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
"This is Russian territory, and Russia has repeatedly reaffirmed its political will on different levels to continue dialogue with Japan to find solutions to the sensitive issues that remain on the agenda."
The territorial dispute over some of the islands, which are known at the Kurils in Russia, dates back to the time when the Soviet Union seized them at the end of World War Two. The dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty. (Reuters)