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June
Taiwan's COVID-19 cases fall to month-and-a-half low
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan reported on Monday its lowest daily rise in domestic COVID-19 infections in 1-1/2 months, as the island's outbreak stabilises, although the government remains wary about a cluster of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Taiwan has been battling a rare spike in community transmissions after months of relative safety, with curbs imposed last month on gatherings to limit its spread.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily news briefing that new domestic cases stood at 60, down from 88 the previous day.
It was the smallest rise in the daily figure since May 15, when the government raised the alert level for Taipei and its neighbouring city after a sudden spike of 180 domestic cases from just 29 on May 14.
"Cases of the disease are definitely going down," Chen said. "This is a good phenomenon."
But the smaller rise in new cases could also be connected to fewer tests being taken over the weekend, he added, urging people not to let down their guard and continue to limit going outdoors or meeting others.
"If there's nothing special going on, don't go out," Chen added.
Mass testing is continuing in a part of the southern county of Pingtung, where eight people have been infected with the Delta variant, connected to two people who returned from Peru, though Chen said there were no new cases.
Taiwan has been trying to hasten its vaccination programme which has been hampered by global shortages, and Chen said more shots from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) would arrive on Wednesday, but he did not give details.
The government has also been in talks with Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) for its shot, Chen added. Novavax said last week its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective. read more
Taiwan has reported 14,694 infections since the pandemic began, including 635 deaths, while 8% of the island's 23.5 million people have had at least one of the two shot vaccine regimen. (Reuters)
June
Seven killed, many injured in blast in Bangladesh
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least seven people were killed and more than 50 people were injured in an explosion in the Bangladeshi capital late on Sunday, police said.
The cause of the blast, which occurred on the ground floor of a three-storey building on a busy street in Dhaka'a Moghbazar area, was not immediately known.
"We have information so far that seven people died in the incident and 50 others have been admitted to hospitals," Shafiqul Islam, Dhaka city police commissioner, told reporters after visiting the scene.
Seven other nearby buildings and three buses were damaged in the explosion, he said.
Television footage showed mangled pillars, broken concrete and glass shards strewn across the street. (reuters)
June
S.Korea to develop 'Iron Dome'-style defence system to counter North's artillery
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea approved plans on Monday to pursue a $2.6-billion artillery interception system, similar to Israel's "Iron Dome", designed to protect against North Korea's arsenal of long-range guns and rockets, the defence acquisition agency said.
A large part of the area surrounding Seoul, the capital, is home to about half the population of 52 million, and lies within range of the neighbour’s long-range guns and multiple rocket launchers.
Late last year the government's defence blueprint called for the development of a "Korean-style Iron Dome" that can defend Seoul and key facilities.
On Monday a committee presided over by Defence Minister Suh Wook approved the project, expected to be completed around 2035 at a cost of 2.89 trillion won ($2.6 billion), the Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement.
"Through this project, it is expected that the ability to respond to the threat of enemy long-range artillery will be strengthened, as well as securing domestic technology and creating domestic jobs," it said.
The Ministry of National Defence has said while existing weapons such as the Patriot and THAAD missile defence systems are designed to target the North's increasingly capable short-range ballistic missiles, the new system aims to protect against long-range artillery and multiple rocket launchers.
Pyongyang does not comment on its military deployment, but experts believe most of North Korea’s 13,600 guns and multiple rocket launchers are positioned near the border, about 40 km (25 miles) distant from Seoul. (Reuters)
June
U.S. warplanes strike Iran-backed militia in Iraq, Syria
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States said on Sunday it carried out another round of air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, this time in response to drone attacks by the militia against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.
In a statement, the U.S. military said it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq. It did not disclose whether it believed anyone was killed or injured but officials said assessments were ongoing.
Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border. They vowed to retaliate.
The strikes came at the direction of President Joe Biden, the second time he has ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia since taking office five months ago. Biden last ordered limited strikes in Syria in February, that time in response to rocket attacks in Iraq.
"As demonstrated by this evening's strikes, President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect U.S. personnel," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The strikes came even as Biden's administration is looking to potentially revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The decision to retaliate appears to show how Biden aims to compartmentalize such defensive strikes, while simultaneously engaging Tehran in diplomacy.
Biden's critics say Iran cannot be trusted and point to the drone attacks as further evidence that Iran and its proxies will never accept a U.S. military presence in Iraq or Syria.
Iran called on the United States to avoid "creating crisis" in the region.
"Certainly what the United States is doing is disrupting security in the region, and one of the victims of this disruption will be the United States," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.
In an apparent indication that Baghdad is determined to avoid getting sucked into a U.S.-Iran escalation, Iraq's military issued a rare condemnation of the U.S. strikes. The Iraqi and U.S. militaries continue close coordination in a separate battle in Iraq, fighting remnants of the Sunni extremist group Islamic State.
Biden and the White House declined comment on the strikes on Sunday. But Biden will meet Israel's outgoing president, Reuven Rivlin, at the White House on Monday for a broad discussion that will include Iran and U.S. efforts to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal. Those efforts have raised serious concerns in Israel, Iran's arch-foe.
U.S. officials believe Iran is behind a ramp-up in increasingly sophisticated drone attacks and periodic rocket fire against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq, where the U.S. military has been helping Baghdad combat the remnants of Islamic State.
Two U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran-backed militias carried out at least five drone attacks against facilities used by U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq since April.
The Pentagon said the facilities targeted were used by Iran-backed militia including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
One of the facilities targeted was used to launch and recover the drones, a defense official said.
The U.S. military carried out strikes with F-15 and F-16 aircraft, officials said, adding the pilots made it back from the mission safely.
"We assess each strike hit the intended targets," one of the officials told Reuters.
Iraq's government is struggling to deal with militias ideologically aligned with Iran which are accused of rocket fire against U.S. forces and of involvement in killing peaceful pro-democracy activists.
Earlier in June, Iraq released Iran-aligned militia commander Qasim Muslih, who was arrested in May on terrorism-related charges, after authorities found insufficient evidence against him. (Reuters)
June
US in first meeting with Israel's new foreign minister amid Iran moves
Written by nuke
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses the media n Anchorage, Alaska on Mar 19, 2021. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/Pool via REUTERS/Files) -
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israel's new top diplomat Yair Lapid on Sunday (Jun 27), in the United States' first face-to-face meeting with the freshly installed government that seeks a less combative approach with its main ally Washington.
Lapid, a centrist who delayed his own plans to be prime minister as he masterminded a coalition to unseat veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu, is flying to Rome to see Blinken, who arrives in Italy on Sunday on a three-nation tour of Europe.
The meeting comes as President Joe Biden's administration moves ahead with fresh talks on reviving a 2015 accord with Iran - strongly opposed by Israel - in which Tehran drastically scaled back nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief.
Biden and Blinken are also eager to preserve a fragile ceasefire that took effect on May 21 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, after the worst fighting since 2014.
The bloodshed triggered some of the strongest criticism of Israel in memory in the US Congress, with some members of Biden's Democratic Party accusing Netanyahu of excessive force and of triggering the crisis by backing far-right Jewish groups that want to change the delicate status quo in the holy city of Jerusalem.
Lapid, who took office on Jun 13 under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a nationalist, has accused Netanyahu of jeopardising Israel's once rock-solid support in the United States by openly rallying behind former president Donald Trump's Republican Party.
The new coalition government still sees Iran as the major threat to Israel, and has launched its own strikes on the Gaza Strip - but has pledged to put the alliance with Washington first and to try to keep differences private.
After one of Lapid's telephone conversations with Blinken, the Israeli foreign ministry said that the two agreed on no surprises in the relationship.
Netanyahu quickly pounced, posting a video in English on social media calling the new government "so dangerous" and speaking of how he as premier would sometimes not inform the United States of pending Israeli actions.
With tensions still high after last month's violence, a motley coalition getting its bearings in Israel and political uncertainties lingering within the Palestinian Authority, the Biden administration has made clear it is not rushing to make any grand Middle East peace initiatives.
Blinken, speaking in Paris at a forum on the youth-oriented Brut network, said the immediate priority was finding ways to bring humanitarian and reconstruction aid into the densely populated and impoverished Gaza Strip.
The hope is that "there can be conditions, which do not currently exist, to allow perhaps a relaunch of the peace process and the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine," Blinken said.
The Biden administration has hoped to be less involved in Middle East hotspots and to repair rifts created under Trump with European allies as part of a strategy to focus long-term attention on managing the rise of China.
In his three days in Italy, Blinken on Monday will see Pope Francis, the pontiff's first meeting with a high-ranking Biden administration official.
Blinken will also take part in meetings hosted by Italy of the Group of 20 major economies and of the coalition to defeat the Islamic State extremist group//CNA
June
People wearing face masks wait for a bus in Auckland, New Zealand, Aug 31, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Fiona Goodall) -
New Zealand will extend the COVID-19 alert level in the capital Wellington for two days, as authorities said on Sunday (Jun 27) there is still a risk from an Australian tourist who tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the city last weekend.
Wellington, which moved to Alert Level 2 on Wednesday, will now remain at that level until Tuesday.
New Zealand will extend the COVID-19 alert level in the capital Wellington for two days, as authorities said on Sunday (Jun 27) there is still a risk from an Australian tourist who tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the city last weekend.
Wellington, which moved to Alert Level 2 on Wednesday, will now remain at that level until Tuesday.
The measure means social distancing rules will be in place across the city, but offices, schools and businesses may remain open.
New Zealand halted quarantine-free travel from Australia on Saturday for three days, saying there were too many cases and outbreaks.
"The three-day pause will give us time to look at whether we need to impose additional measures, as well as give us time to further understand the situation in Australia," Hipkins said//CNA
June
European bank chief eyes transition as world recovers
Written by nuke
EBRD president Odile Renaud-Basso says Lebanon is in a difficult situation after its economy contracted by 25 per cent last year. (Photo: AFP/JACQUES DEMARTHON) -
Odile Renaud-Basso, the first female president at Europe's development bank, hopes to restore the EBRD's green investment targets while addressing workplace equality as COVID-19-hit economies recover.
Before presiding over her first EBRD annual meeting this week, in an interview with AFP, Renaud-Basso also highlighted the rapid workplace digitalisation that is affecting the bank's regions of investment as well as her own institution.
The lender, whose shareholders comprise almost 70 countries, has grown to invest in 38 emerging economies spanning central and eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
"On average, 2020 was less negative than expected" in the EBRD's countries of investment, Renaud-Basso told AFP.
This year the EBRD foresees "much better than expected" economic growth across its countries of investment, after most economies contracted last year owing to pandemic turmoil, she said.
The bank is to publish its latest forecasts on Tuesday.
Renaud-Basso pointed to rebounds in manufacturing and industrial production, as well as the positive impact of higher commodity prices for the better-than-expected outlook.
But "big uncertainties remain", with countries reliant on tourism, notably Tunisia, hit hard by COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Elsewhere, "Lebanon remains very difficult after minus 25 per cent GDP in 2020, so this has a huge impact on the average".
The EBRD last year invested a record €11 billion (US$13.4 billion) across emerging economies meanwhile, to help counter fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
That marked a 10-per cent increase from 2019.
No stranger to transition projects, the EBRD is targeting 2025 as the year when more than half its investments will be in green projects.
"We were very close to this objective in 2019 but with the crisis the figure has dropped" to under 30 per cent last year, the bank chief said.
"The objective is to increase again ... (to) 40 per cent in 2021."
Renaud-Basso noted that "it is quite challenging to have this level of private sector investment" in green projects compared with large public infrastructure schemes bankrolled by governments.
But the EBRD is pushing ahead and is looking at being fully aligned with the goals of the Paris accord by the end of next year.
"It means screening all our projects, all our activities, including (that) our investments are consistent with the Paris agreement.
"This is a big step forward ... This will have huge implications for our activities and the way we interact with the countries," she insisted.
The 2015 Paris climate agreement aims to limit global temperature rises to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to go down to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Experts believe this can be achieved only by the world reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The EBRD chief also wants the bank to "better support" countries' digital transformations brought on by the pandemic//CNA
June
Macron and Le Pen face new test in French regional vote
Written by nuke
The first round of France's regional elections were shunned by a record 66.72 per cent of voters. (Photo: AFP/THOMAS COEX) -
France votes in the second round of regional elections on Sunday (Jun 27) after a first round that saw a drubbing for President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party, disappointment for Marine Le Pen's far-right and record low turnout.
For some observers, the outcome of the Jun 20 first round raised doubts over whether the 2022 presidential election would come down to a duel between Macron and Le Pen in a run-off long seen as the most likely scenario.
Analysts warn against too much extrapolation onto a nationwide scale from the results of the regional elections, which choose the heads of France's 13 mainland regions from Brittany in the northwest to the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA) region in the southeast.
But there was cross-party concern over the turnout for last week's polls, which were shunned by 66.72 per cent of voters - a record in modern France.
"What we are seeing is the culmination of a disconnection between voters and the political class," said Jessica Sainty, politics lecturer at Avignon University, while acknowledging the COVID-19 crisis also played a role in high abstention rate.
The woeful turnout prompted a debate over how to improve participation, with several figures including government spokesman Gabriel Attal suggesting electronic voting could help in future.
According to a poll published Thursday, just 36 per cent of voters plan to cast their ballots on Sunday. "France is sulking," the Le Parisien newspaper said.
The first-round results put Le Pen's National Rally (RN) ahead in just one region, PACA, a major disappointment after polls showed a possible breakthrough in several areas.
One of the most closely watched races on Sunday will be whether RN candidate Thierry Mariani can defeat his right-wing rival Renaud Muselier in the region.
The first-round results made even more unpalatable reading for Macron and his LREM, confirming the party's failure to put down local and regional roots despite controlling the presidency and lower house of parliament.
LREM has almost no chance of winning control of a single region and is currently just number five among political parties in France.
The Socialists are expected to pick up some regions, partly due to support from the far-left France Unbowed party//CNA
June
UK health minister Matt Hancock quits after breaking COVID-19 rules with affair
Written by nuke
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock leaves Downing Street in London, Britain, March 10, 2021. REUTERS/John Sibley -
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigned on Saturday (Jun 26) following revelations that he broke the government's own coronavirus restrictions during an affair with a close aide.
The frontman for Britain's response to the pandemic, particularly the nationwide vaccine roll-out, quit in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance," he wrote.
"The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis," he added.
Johnson said he was "sorry" to receive Hancock's resignation, and that he should be "immensely proud" of his service.
The prime minister had initially stood by his beleaguered health secretary after he admitted to breaking COVID-19 rules on social distancing, at a time when he was urging the public to stick by the measures, including curbs on funeral numbers.
Opposition parties accused the government of hypocrisy over breaches of lockdown rules which have seen many members of the public slapped with fines.
Hancock conceded he had let the public down after The Sun newspaper published a security camera still obtained apparently from a whistleblower showing him kissing the aide in his office on May 6.
The main opposition Labour party said the government needed to answer questions about the undisclosed appointment of the aide, former lobbyist Gina Coladangelo, to Hancock's top advisory team.
Both she and Hancock are married, and first met at university.Britain was due to fully ease restrictions on Jun 21, but the emergence of the Delta variant, first found in India, has led to an extension of social distancing rules//CNA
June
Malaysian palm giant IOI to assist with U.S. probe over forced labour claims
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysian palm oil company IOI Corporation (IOIB.KL) on Friday said it would assist in any investigation after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a letter to an activist that it was probing the firm over forced labour allegations.
Migrant rights activist Andy Hall told Reuters he had petitioned the CBP over concerns of forced labour indications in IOI's operations, as alleged by the workers.
Hall confirmed the CBP responded in May with a letter saying they have reviewed his petition and found it sufficient to open an investigation. Reuters has seen the letter from CBP to Hall.
The CBP did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.
The concerns relate to payment of deposits by workers, reimbursement of workers' recruitment fees, and a need for an ethical, low-cost recruitment process for foreign workers, Hall said.
IOI in a statement said it had been made aware of the letter but had not been notified directly by the CBP.
"Nevertheless, IOI will take the proactive step in contacting CBP to confirm the existence of an investigation and offer our cooperation in providing explanation and documents to assist," IOI said on its website.
"IOI is well aware of the importance of our workers' rights and working conditions," IOI added.
Hall said he and senior IOI management had already had several beneficial and constructive engagements.
"I crucially continue to engage IOI directly on specific issues of concern relating to forced labour risks in its operations," Hall said.
IOI is the third palm oil giant in Malaysia to face U.S. scrutiny over its treatment of migrant workers, as the industry seeks to defend its image after mounting allegations of human rights abuses.
The CBP last year banned imports from FGV Holdings (FGVH.KL) and Sime Darby Plantations (SIPL.KL) over forced labour allegations, which had prompted some global buyers to drop them from supply chains. read more
Both companies have appointed independent auditors to evaluate their labour practices and said they would engage with the CBP to address the concerns raised.
Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer and exporter, is heavily reliant on migrants from Indonesia, India and Bangladesh to produce the edible oil found in everything from food to cosmetics to biodiesel. (Reuters)