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International News (6771)
07
December
December
Italy reportedly drops out of China Belt and Road initiative that failed to deliver
Written by nuke Published in International News
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called Italy's joining of the Chinese Belt and Road initiative a ''mistake". (Photo: AFP/Kenzo Tribouillard) -
Voinews, Jakarta - Italy has formally withdrawn from China’s global Belt and Road initiative that seeks to deepen relations with foreign countries through infrastructure investments, Italian media reported on Wednesday (Dec 6).
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni had previously signalled Italy's intention to withdraw from the agreement, which was up for renewal. The Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that a letter with the formal notice had been delivered to Beijing in recent days. Meloni’s office declined to comment on the report.
Italy became the first G7 country to sign on to the initiative in 2019, when the populist, anti-establishment Five Star Movement party-led government promoted it as a way of increasing trade with China while getting investments in major infrastructure projects.
Neither appeared. In the intervening years, Italy’s trade deficit with China has ballooned from €20 billion to €48 billion. Investments in Italian ports that were trumpeted in newspaper headlines were never achieved.
Meloni, in opposition at the time, was against the deal from the start. Her foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said this summer that Italy had not “obtained great results” from the pact.
Analysts said Italy had little incentive to continue in the pact, and that China can fall back on the face-saving narrative that Italy dropped out under US pressure.
The initiative involves Chinese companies building transportation, energy and other infrastructure overseas funded by Chinese development bank loans.
It has built power plants, roads, railroads and ports around the world and deepened China’s relations with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mideast. It is a major part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push for China to play a larger role in global affairs.
More than 150 countries have signed Belt and Road agreements with China//CNA-VOI
07
December
December
Seychelles declares state of emergency after explosion, flooding
Written by nuke Published in International News
Wavel Ramkalawan President of Seychelles addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, Sep 20, 2023. (File photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs) -
Voinews, Jakarta - A blast at an explosives store wrecked buildings and caused "massive damage" to an industrial zone on the Seychelles' main island Mahe, officials said, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency on Thursday (Dec 7).
The blast shook the island as heavy rains triggered flooding which killed at least two people, authorities said.
Footage broadcast on national television showed streets covered in deep mud and strewn with debris and uprooted trees.
"Following an explosion at the CCCL explosives store that has caused massive damage to the Providence Industrial area and the surrounding areas and major destruction caused by flooding due to heavy rains, the President has declared a State of Emergency for today the 7th December," President Wavel Ramkalawan's office said in a statement.
"Everyone is being asked to stay at home. All schools will be closed. Only workers in the essential services and persons travelling will be allowed free movement."
A public radio station reported that two people were killed and one injured by floods overnight on Mahe.
The government's official Visit Seychelles account on X said the international airport and ferries between its islands remained operational for tourists.
The Seychelles, a major tourist destination, is made up of 115 islands and is the least populous country in Africa with about 100,000 people//CNA-VOI
07
December
December
Britain sets out safeguards for accessing cash in digital age
Written by nuke Published in International News
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen for the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), the UK's financial regulatory body, at their head offices in London, Britain March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo -
Britain's banks and building societies should make sure customers can still access cash before closing a branch as more financial services move online, the country's markets regulator proposed on Thursday.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it was using powers under a new financial services law approved earlier this year to require banks, such as Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and NatWest to undertake "cash access assessments" when they are considering closing a branch.
Britain is also likely to issue a digital version of the pound in the second half of the decade, raising fears that cash will be even harder to use as some shops already insist on cards for payments.
"We know that, while there is an increasing shift to digital payments, over 3 million consumers still rely on cash – particularly people who may be vulnerable – as well as many small businesses," said Sheldon Mills, the FCA's executive director of consumers and competition.
"These proposals set out how banks and building societies will need to assess and plug gaps in local cash provision. This will help manage the pace of change and ensure that people can continue to access cash if they need it," Mills said.
In the first quarter of this year, 95.1 per cent of the UK population was within a mile of a free-to-use cash withdrawal point, the FCA said.
Separately, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said on Thursday that last year cash was used for 19 per cent of purchases at its members, who are mostly large chains that account for just over a third of UK retail spending.
The proportion of cash transactions rose last year for the first time in a decade, after falling to a low of 15 per cent in 2021 when pandemic restrictions encouraging the use of contactless card payments were still in place, the BRC said.
The FCA said that existing law allowed retailers to decide whether to accept cash or not, and that it would finalise its new rules by the third quarter of 2024//CNA - VOI
07
December
December
Palestinians seek slivers of safety as Israel battles Hamas in south Gaza city
Written by nuke Published in International News
A picture taken in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec 7, 2023, shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment on Gaza, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo: AFP/Menahem Kahana) -
Voinews, Jakarta - Israel battled Hamas militants in Gaza's biggest cities on Thursday (Dec 7) and said it had attacked dozens of targets, leaving Palestinians struggling to survive, a situation the United Nations described as "apocalyptic".
Gazans crammed into neighbouring Rafah on the border with Egypt on the basis of Israeli leaflets and messages saying that they would be safe in the city. But they remained fearful after an Israeli strike on a house there killed 15 on Wednesday, according to health officials in Rafah.
Israel said on Thursday it had killed a number of gunmen in southern Gaza's largest city, Khan Younis, including two militants who emerged firing from a tunnel, a day after Israeli troops entered the heart of the city. Hamas' armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said earlier that combat was fierce.
Palestinian health officials said an Israeli air strike had killed four people in a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip overnight and another strike killed two people in Khan Younis on Thursday morning.
Residents in Gaza City in the north reported all-night bombing and fierce gunbattles in Shejaia, east of the centre and the Jabalia refugee camp further north as well as bombing in another district, Sabra.
Israel said it had raided a Hamas compound in Jabalia, killing several gunmen and locating a network of tunnels, a training area and a weapons cache.
In Khan Younis, Israeli forces had encircled the house of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening.
"His home may not be his castle, and he can escape, but it's only a matter of time before we get him," he said in a video statement.
Khan Younis residents said Israeli tanks had neared Sinwar's home but it was not known whether he was there. Israel has said it believes many Hamas leaders and fighters are holed up in underground tunnels.
Israeli warplanes also bombed targets across the densely populated coastal strip in one of the heaviest phases of the two-month-old war. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, said late on Wednesday at least 17 were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Maghazi in Central Gaza.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network said an Israeli bombardment of Jabalia Camp in northern Gaza killed 22 relatives of its Gaza correspondent Moamen Al-Sharafi.
In Geneva, the UN human rights chief said the situation in Gaza was "apocalyptic" with the risk that serious rights violations were being committed by both sides.
Hundreds of thousands of people made homeless in north Gaza during the war were desperately seeking shelter in the few places in the south designated as safe by Israel.
The UN humanitarian office said on Wednesday that most of the homeless people in Rafah, about 13km south of Khan Younis, were sleeping rough due to a lack of tents although the UN had managed to distribute a few hundred.
While some aid had entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, the surge in hostilities since a week-long truce collapsed on Dec 1 was hindering its distribution, the UN report said//CNA-VOI
07
November
November
Saudi Arabia Hosts International Conference on Women in Islam
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOINews, Jakarta - King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday opened the International Conference on Women in Islam in the city of Jeddah.
According to a press statement posted on the Union of the OIC News Agencies website on Monday, the three-day international conference has been organized by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The conference aims to highlight the successes of Muslim women and their role and contribution to the development of OIC member states.
The conference also aims to counter the negative propaganda that portrays Islamic religion as an obstacle to women's rights and to demonstrate that Islamic teachings have always been just toward women.
The conference will seek to create a detailed plan for legal reforms and political initiatives to foster justice and empower women in Islamic societies. The participants of the conference are also expected to adopt a comprehensive document entitled The Jeddah Document for Women in Islam.
The conference comprises five working sessions during which ministers, officials, scholars, and thinkers of both genders will delve into the status of women and their rights in Islam in addition to various issues related to women in contemporary societies.
During his speech at the opening session of the 49th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania on March 16–17, 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, presented the Kingdom's initiative to host the International Conference on Women in Islam.
In his presentation, he underlined the Kingdom's commitment and active role in promoting the status and empowerment of women across all development sectors.
It is said that Saudi Arabia continuously supports the OIC's objectives and its efforts to preserve the rights of Muslim women and enhance their role in the development of member countries. (Antaranews)
06
November
November
China, Australia agree to turn the page as tensions ease
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOI, Jakarta - President Xi Jinping said on Monday stable ties between China and Australia served each other's interests and both should expand their cooperation, sending a clear signal that Beijing was ready to move on from recent tensions.
China and Australia should promote the development of their strategic partnership as they build up mutual understanding and trust, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.
A strong relationship "will be beneficial into the future," Albanese told Xi in their second face-to-face talks in a year, a meeting that lasted more than an hour.
For decades, China and Australia built a relationship on trade, with Beijing becoming Canberra's biggest commercial partner with purchases of Australian food and natural resources.
But ties soured after Australia in 2017 accused China of meddling in its politics. The following year, Australia banned equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) for its 5G network out of national security fears.
An Australian call in 2020 for an international inquiry into the origin of the COVID pandemic, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, infuriated Beijing, which responded with blocks on various Australian imports.
As relations deteriorated, China warned its students against studying in Australia, citing racist incidents, threatening a multi-billion-dollar education market.
Earlier on Monday, Albanese stopped by Beijing's iconic Temple of Heaven and posed for a photograph at the circular Echo Wall where Australia's then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, stood in 1973, a year after the two countries established ties. (Reuters)
06
November
November
Australia's PM Albanese says important to have communication with China
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOI, Jakarta - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday that Australia has an interest in the continued stable growth of China's economy and its ongoing engagement with the world.
In opening remarks as the two leaders met at the Great Hall of the People, Albanese said a strong relationship between the two countries was "beneficial into the future".
"Australia, along with other countries in the region, has an interest in continued stable growth in the Chinese economy, and its ongoing engagement with the world ," he said, according to an official transcript from the Australian Prime Minister's Office.
Albanese said it was "important that we have communication" where differences arise. (Reuters)
06
November
November
New Delhi to restrict use of vehicles to curb air pollution
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOI, Jakarta - India's Delhi city will restrict use of vehicles next week to curb rising pollution as air quality in the capital remained dangerously unsafe for a third consecutive day despite mitigation efforts.
New Delhi ranks among the world's top polluted cities every year ahead of the onset of winter, when calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants from sources including vehicles, industries, construction dust, and crop residue burning in nearby fields.
A thick smog shrouded the federal secretariat and president's palace in the heart of the city early on Monday, and lowered visibility in other parts, as public outrage over hazardous air quality grew and the city extended closure of primary schools until Nov. 10.
The local government said that it will impose the "odd-even" vehicle rule from Nov. 13-20 to mitigate pollution levels that are expected to rise after the Hindu festival of Diwali on Nov. 12, when firecrackers are often set despite a ban.
The rule will allow vehicles with odd registration numbers on the road on odd dates and similarly vehicles with even numbers on alternate days.
Environmental experts have previously said that the rule, which has been imposed multiple times with some variations since 2016, has been more effective in de-congesting roads and less effective in bringing down pollution.
"In view of rising pollution, odd-even will be imposed in Delhi," Gopal Rai, the local environment minister, told reporters, adding that a meeting will be held with police and transport department on Tuesday to decide on the implementation.
Air quality was "severe" for a third consecutive day in the city on Monday, making it the second most polluted city in the world, behind Lahore in Pakistan, according to a real-time compilation by Swiss group IQAir.
A cricket World Cup match involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, however, went ahead in the city on Monday with organisers installing air purifiers in the players' dressing rooms and using water sprinklers to reduce pollutants in the air.
Curbs on vehicles are in addition to a ban on construction work for public projects in the national capital region, and restrictions on entry of trucks and heavy vehicles in Delhi, imposed by a federal pollution control watchdog on Sunday.
An analysis of 25 research studies by the Down To Earth magazine, published on Sunday, showed that poor air quality was linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, stillbirth, developmental delay, restricted growth in children and even death. (Reuters)
06
November
November
China urges Myanmar to cooperate on maintaining stability on border
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOI, Jakarta - Myanmar should cooperate with China to maintain stability on their common border, a Chinese official said on Monday, after a surge of fighting in Myanmar between junta forces and insurgents rocked the region.
Last week, Myanmar's ruling military said it was trying to restore order near the border after an alliance of ethnic minority armies battling for self-determination launched a series of coordinated attacks on junta targets.
"Myanmar is called on to cooperate with China to maintain stability along the China-Myanmar border, earnestly ensure the safety of the lives and property of Chinese border residents, and take effective measures to strengthen the security of Chinese personnel," said Nong Rong, assistant Chinese foreign minister.
A spokesperson for Myanmar's ruling military was not immediately available for comment.
The Asia Times news site reported that one Chinese citizen was killed and several were wounded on Saturday when a shell fired by the Myanmar military over-shot its target and struck on the Chinese side of the border.
Nong, who visited Myanmar on Nov. 3-5, said China hoped Myanmar would restore stability, and it supported all parties to properly handle differences and achieve reconciliation through dialogue as soon as possible.
Thailand is trying to bring home 162 of its nationals trapped by the fighting in Myanmar.
Myanmar has been in chaos since a military coup in February 2021 unseated a democratically elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. (Reuters)
06
November
November
US, South Korea, Japan to launch consultative group on North's cyber threats
Written by Nur Yasmin Published in International News
VOI, Jakarta - The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level consultative group on countering North Korean cyber activities that they say finance its unlawful weapons programs, South Korea's presidential office said on Monday.
Anne Neuberger, U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, held talks with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Washington last week. They agreed to hold quarterly meetings under the new framework, the presidential office said.
"It is aimed at strengthening the three countries' effective response capabilities against global cyber threats, including jointly countering North Korea's cyber activities that are abused as a key source funding its nuclear and WMD programs," the office said in a statement.
The announcement comes after the leaders of the three countries agreed at a summit in August at Camp David that they would establish a new trilateral working group for the North's cyber threats.
Sanctions monitors have accused North Korea of using cyberattacks to gather funds for its nuclear and missile programs, and a United Nations report said the North stepped up its cryptocurrency theft last year, using sophisticated techniques to steal more in 2022 than any other year.
North Korea has denied allegations of hacking or other cyberattacks. (Reuters)