South Korea will reopen its embassy in Kyiv shortly amid stabilizing situations in the Ukrainian capital, the foreign ministry said Friday.
South Korean embassy officials were evacuated from Kyiv in mid-February and operated temporary offices in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi, and Romania. The Lviv mission was closed on March 18.
The ministry said embassy officials will return to Kyiv for smoother cooperation with the Ukrainian government and the protection of South Korean nationals, as security conditions are stabilizing.
The chief of the mission will determine the timing of the return while giving top priority to staff safety, it added.
Seoul, meanwhile, plans to make an additional donation of US$50 million to the war-ravaged country through a trust fund of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is currently making related consultations, it added.
The fund will be used to provide non-lethal military supplies, including fuel, medical goods and protective gear.
The help will raise South Korea’s total support since Russia’s invasion to around $100 million, including the defense ministry’s direct shipment of non-lethal aid in March. (Yonhap)
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HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Team chief-de-mission Trần Đức Phấn declared that Việt Nam’s athletes are ready to compete at the coming 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and will bring home the best results.
“After months of careful and responsible preparation, Vietnamese athletes, coaches, experts and other members are confident to take part in the 31st SEA Games,” said Phấn at the sending-off ceremony on Thursday in Hà Nội. He is also deputy head of the SEA Games Organising Committee.
He said more than 1,400 athletes and nearly 300 coaches have been summoned to carry out Việt Nam’s duty at the regional event.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected their preparations, along with many other difficulties, the team has received strong support from the government and sponsors to be ready to give their best performance.
They have set a target of 140 gold medals from 40 sports to top the overall medal tally. In particular, they will defend their No.1 position in both men’s and women’s competitions.
“On behalf of the delegation, I take the assignment. Our athletes will compete with all of their effort and determination to bring home gold medals,” said Phấn.
Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh attended the ceremony and wished Vietnamese athletes a successful SEA Games to lift Việt Nam’s position in the world of sports.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Minh said SEA Games is not only a sports competition but also a festival, where athletes will join together to strengthen the solidarity and development of ASEAN countries, following the Games’ slogan: “For a Stronger Southeast Asia”.
“I recognise and appreciate the effort of the committees, organisations and individuals, especially the athletes and coaches, to overcome the many challenges in organising and taking part in the event,” said Deputy Prime Minister Minh.
He asked each member of the delegation to be well aware of the glorious tasks entrusted by the Party and State. Participants should always strive in the spirit of solidarity, with the highest intelligence and determination for national pride, competing to achieve the best results at the Games to raise the position of Vietnamese Sports to new heights and affirm the long-standing cultural tradition of Việt Nam.
On behalf of athletes, swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng promised to do their best to secure the highest results while respecting regulations and sportsmanship.
SEA Games’ first record
Việt Nam has set a national record for the number of athletes participating at the 31st SEA Games in May.
As the hosts, Việt Nam has a contingent of 1,341 people, the largest ever in the 45-year history of the Games.
Among them, 965 are athletes, supported by 30 officials, 31 doctors, and hundreds of coaches and experts and logistic staff.
Trần Đức Phấn, Vice Chairman of the Việt Nam Sports Administration (VSA), is the chief-de-mission. He is assisted by Hoàng Quốc Vinh, head of the Elite Sports 1 Department and Ngô Ích Quân, head of the Elite Sports 1 Department 2.
The team will compete in all 40 sports organised in Hà Nội and 11 nearby localities.
Thailand will send a delegation of 871 athletes, Malaysia 654, the Philippines 643, Indonesia 541, Cambodia 494, Singapore 474, Laos 363, Myanmar 352, East Timor 69 and Brunei 24.
It is expected that more than 10,000 participants in total will land in Việt Nam in the next few days.
They will compete from May 12-23 with football and some other sports beginning days earlier than the opening ceremony.
Việt Nam targets 140 gold medals to top the regional biennial sport meet that they host for the second time, following the first time in 2003.
Việt Nam will not have all of its best athletes, such as Olympian winning marksman Hoàng Xuân Vinh, who now works as a coach; multi-time SEA Games swimming champion Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên, who has retired from international competition; and WBO boxing champion Nguyễn Thị Thu Nhi, who is busy with the world championship organised at the same time as the Games; and sprint queen Lê Tú Chinh, who suffered a knee injury and cannot recover in time.
However, the hosts are still confident with many other golden faces such as swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, chess prodigy Lê Quang Liêm, runner Nguyễn Thị Oanh and taekwondo fighter Trương Thị Kim Tuyền.
“Apart from athletes who have recorded remarkable achievements, in this Games, we will also send a number of young talents who will learn, gain experience and sharpen the skills that will be good for them in the future,” said Vinh, head of the Elite Sports 1 Department.
“These athletes have recently recorded results that are close to SEA Games’ top three. This will be an opportunity for them to show off their abilities.”
At the previous Games in the Philippines, Việt Nam placed second behind the hosts, bringing home 98 golds, 86 silvers and 105 bronzes. — VNS
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GUANGZHOU – Baiyun airport in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong province, has announced the cancellation of domestic passenger flights following the discovery of more COVID-19 cases.
All inbound and outbound domestic passenger flights are cancelled from Friday to Saturday, the airport said. However, the cargo and international flights will run as planned.
In the first 12 hours of Thursday, the city added three confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and one asymptomatic carrier. The four infected cases are all reported at the airport, three of which are airport staff members.
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The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has once again highlighted that being self-reliant without dependencies is a vital necessity, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
Speaking during the Navy’s Commander’s Conference, Singh said that the Indian Navy, which has been at the forefront of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of the government, must continue to lead the way and remain a necessary guarantor of India’s maritime trade, security and national prosperity.
“It is heartening to note that in consonance with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, the Navy has re-invested over 64 per cent of its capital budget into the economy. I am told that the percentage share of modernisation budget is bound to grow up to 70 per cent towards indigenous procurement in this current financial year,” he said.
The Defence Minister commended the Navy on the commissioning of major Naval units since the last Commander’s Conference namely INS Visakhapatnam, the first ship of the P15B project, the fourth P75 submarine INS Vela and the Navy’s second P8I squadron INAS 316 at INS Hansa, Goa.
He also said that out of the 41 ships and submarines which are on order, 39 are being built in Indian shipyards.
“While the Navy has been at the forefront of indigenisation, it is important for us to leverage on the momentum that we have gained thus far.
“I urge the senior leadership to maintain their focus on futuristic capability development, to ensure that the nation’s maritime power grows in tandem with our economic interests,” he said.
The delivery of first indigenous aircraft carrier, Vikrant, would be another milestone event.
“I am aware that the ship has successfully completed three sea trials. All-out efforts need to be made so that the ship is delivered and commissioned in the 75th year of our Independence. This would be a fitting tribute to the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative,” he said.
Singh also said that Indian Navy has taken numerous initiatives to progress military diplomacy. These include gifting two fast interceptor craft to Mozambique, technical support towards refit of ships from friendly foreign countries, joint surveillance of exclusive economic zone of friendly nations and conduct of bilateral and multilateral exercises in the last six months.
“I was also happy to note the overwhelming participation of 39 friendly foreign countries in the MILAN multi-national naval exercise,” the Defence Minister said.
He highlighted that the Navy has also been providing training to foreign personnel in India and over 19,000 personnel have been trained in the last four decades from over 45 friendly foreign countries.
Jointness in operations is critical in any future wars and restructuring of military commands and establishment of joint theatre commands is the way ahead, he said.
“I am aware that adequate progress has been made towards the study on maritime theatre command,” Singh added.
He also applauded the Navy for appointing women officers onboard frontline ships and ship-borne flights. Further, the Navy would also be inducting women cadets through the National Defence Academy from June this year.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) summary for increasing the prices of petroleum products, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb shared on Thursday.
“[We] cannot punish the people for the previous government’s worst incompetence, incapability and blatant mistakes,” Aurangzeb said in the statement.
The Imran Khan-led government had agreed to the strict conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise petrol prices in order to get a loan, she said. “Every effort is being made to not increase the burden on the public already troubled by inflation,” she added.
The price of petrol and high speed diesel will remain Rs149.86 and Rs144.15 per litre, respectively. Kerosene and light diesel oil will also continue to be sold for Rs125.56 and Rs118.31 per litre, respectively.
This is the second time the prime minister rejected Ogra’s proposal for a price hike.
The move comes days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the government had “agreed that prompt action is needed to reverse the unfunded subsidies which have slowed discussions for the 7th review”.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail returned to Pakistan on Monday after negotiating a deal with the IMF that may give some space to the new government to make a “people friendly” budget in June.
But an IMF statement issued after the talks indicates the deal does not equip the government with the tools it needs to clear, what Ismail described as, “the landmines planted” by the PTI government, i.e., facing the consequences of withdrawing fuel subsidies given by his predecessors.
The previous PTI government had announced a four-month freeze (until June 30) on petrol and electricity prices on February 28 as part of a series of measures to bring relief to the public.
The PML-N led coalition government had severely criticised the previous Imran-led government for first failing to control fuel prices in the country and later for “derailing” the IMF programme through fuel subsidies.
Earlier this month, Ismail, during his Washington visit, told US think tank Atlantic Council that the government will have to increase the price of petroleum products to get Pakistan’s economy back on track and to revive the stalled bailout programme with the IMF.
The IMF in 2019 approved a $6 billion loan over three years for Pakistan but disbursement has been slowed by concerns about the pace of reforms.
“They (IMF) have talked about removing the subsidy on fuel. I agree with them,” Ismail, himself a former IMF economist, had said at the Atlantic Council. “We can’t afford to do the subsidies that we’re doing. So we’re going to have to curtail this.”
Officials of the IMF [will visit][5] Pakistan in May to discuss issues regarding the subsidies being given by the government on petrol and electricity, according to a press release issued by the Finance Division on Sunday.
3 statements
Earlier in the day, the information minister issued two statements within a short span of time creating confusion about petroleum prices.
Initially, Aurangzeb stated that the prime minister had rejected the summary to increase fuel prices as he did not want to “punish” the public for the previous government’s “incompetence, incapability and mistakes”.
The prime minister cannot increase the burden on a public already troubled by inflation, she added.
However, shortly afterwards, the information minister issued another statement, saying, “The statement regarding petrol prices is withdrawn. It’s being updated and will be issued later.”
Subsequently, she issued a third statement saying the premier had rejected the summary and elaborating on the reasons.
By Tahir Sherani
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Yesterday’s strike launched by over 1,000 trade unions demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Cabinet of Ministers brought the country to a standstill.
Unionists also gathered in several locations in Colombo and marched to Gota Go Gama (GGG). They said President Rajapaksa and the Cabinet must resign within one week. If they did not comply, the warring unions would launch an indefinite strike from 06 May, they warned.
Ravi Kumudesh of the Collective of Trade Unions and Mass Organisations said that unions had sunk their differences and come together to demand the resignation of the President and the Cabinet.
“The government doesn’t command the confidence of public servants, private sector workers and others. It is obvious when you look at the crowds. The country has come to a standstill. Its time they went home,” he said.
Wasantha Samarasinghe, Executive Committee member of Jathika Jana Balawegaya said that the Rajapaksas must go home immediately before the people chased them away.
“They have bankrupted the country and now they are making the recovery difficult. President and the Cabinet must resign and let the people decide,” he said.
Meanwhile, only a handful of trains operated and fewer than 50% of private buses were seen on the road. “There weren’t many commuters,” Lanka Private Bus Operators Association (LPBOA) head Gemunu Wijerathne said.
Gamini Senevirathne, Deputy General manager of the Railway Department said that they were planning to operate the trains but on Wednesday night most railway unions had informed him that their members would not report for duty. “So, we couldn’t operate the trains,” he said.
Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary, Joseph Stalin said that most schools in the country had been closed as teachers and principals did not report for duty.
“All teachers and principals didn’t report for duty. We have shown that the government sector as well as the private sector is opposed to the government. If the government insists on staying, we will have to carry out a continuous strike,” he said.
State institutions across the country were closed. Over 5,000 workers of the Katunayaka Export Processing Zone too held a demonstration opposite the Evariwatte Road. Thousands of workers from the Watupitiwala Export Processing Zone marched to the Nittambuwa Junction in solidarity with the unions.
Estate sector workers too joined the strike.
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HÀ NỘI — Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will have an official visit to Việt Nam on April 30-May 1.
The visit will be made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, according to a Wednesday announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The visit is part of his Southeast Asia and Europe tour over a holiday week starting Friday, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said on Tuesday.
The Japanese premier will visit Indonesia, Việt Nam, Thailand, Italy and the UK over the eight-day period through May 6 for talks with their leaders, Kihara told a parliamentary meeting.
Earlier last year, the Japanese PM has received Vietnamese counterpart Phạm Minh Chính for an official visit as the first foreign leader he hosted since his taking office on October 4, 2021. — VNS
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Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn highlighted the importance of long-term relations between Cambodia and Italy and encouraged the further strengthening and enhancement of bilateral relations and cooperation.
Sokhonn made the remarks during his meeting with Lorenzo Galanti – the Italian ambassador to Cambodia with residence in the Thai capital Bangkok – in Phnom Penh on April 26, according to the foreign ministry’s press release after the meeting.
In recent days, the Italian government has donated more than 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Cambodia. The ceremonial handover was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Sokhonn said he considers the aid a demonstration of global solidarity in the fight against Covid-19. He also spoke with Galanti about the incident in early 2020 when Cambodia allowed the Westerdam cruise ship – with some Italian citizens onboard – to dock at Preah Sihanouk International Port during the outbreak of Covid-19, while other countries turned the vessel away.
Italy has also been active in providing assistance to Cambodia under the auspices of the Apsara National Authority – a body tasked with managing the Angkor Archaeological Park – through the training of experts in the preservation of ancient Khmer temples.
According to the press release, the Italian envoy praised the “excellent” results of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Cambodia and thanked the Kingdom for providing free vaccinations to Italians living in Cambodia.
Sokhonn briefed Galanti on the situation in Myanmar and the challenges it represents as well as the results of his first visit to the predominantly Buddhist country as the ASEAN special envoy. They also spoke about the next steps to be taken for promoting the implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus on the crisis.
The press release stated that Galanti commended the efforts and initiatives of Hun Sen as the current chair of ASEAN and Sokhonn as the special envoy for trying to find a solution to the crisis in Myanmar and he hopes that Cambodia will achieve fruitful results with their efforts.
“The ambassador also said he appreciated [Sokhonn’s] focus on the distribution of humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar. He also thanked Cambodia for supporting Italy as an ASEAN dialogue partner.
“[Sokhonn] thanked Italy for its assistance to the ASEAN Regional Centre for Mine Action [ARMAC] and the ambassador reaffirmed Italy’s continued support for ARMAC,” the ministry added.
Galanti stated that Italy was nominated to host the World Expo 2030 and had requested Cambodia’s support as the Kingdom had in the past supported Italy’s candidacy in various other UN professional bodies.
“I would like to thank the Italian government and [Galanti] for his continued support of Cambodia, especially through projects with the Apsara National Authority and providing vaccines to Cambodia to fight Covid-19 at this time,” Sokhonn said in a Facebook post.
“With a common commitment and vision, I am confident that bilateral relations between our two countries will continue to grow steadily,” he added.
Heng Kimkong, a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Centre, said that to accelerate its post-pandemic economic recovery, Cambodia needs support from all development partners.
“It therefore needs to strengthen its relations with as many countries as possible, including Italy, which recently donated vaccines to the Kingdom,” he told The Post on April 27.
By Ry Sochan
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