MILAN, January 26 -- Italy pressured the Netherlands on Friday to accept 47 migrants, including eight unaccompanied minors, who have spent seven days at sea aboard a humanitarian rescue ship that has been allowed to enter Italian territorial waters due to bad weather conditions. The German aid group Sea-Watch tweeted that it has received no response to multiple requests for the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch-3 vessel carrying people rescued off Libya on Saturday to access a port. The boat was permitted to enter Italian waters Friday because of deteriorating weather conditions, and the Italian coast guard said it just off Syracuse, Sicily, flanked by coast guard and financial police boats. Italy and Malta, the closest EU nations, have both refused to allow entry to rescue vessels operated by humanitarian groups in what they say is a bid to discourage smuggler boats from departing Libya by diminishing the prospect of rescue. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters in Rome that he sent a letter to the government in the Netherlands officially requesting that they organize landings for the migrants "aboard this vessel that waves a Dutch flag." Dutch Migration Minister Mark Harbers said that without the prospect of such a comprehensive solution to how to process migrants rescued at sea that the Netherlands "will not take part in ad-hoc measures." He added that the ship flying the Dutch flag doesn't oblige the Netherlands to take action. European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker's spokesman said that the commission is in touch with member states, and was watching the events closely. "Our position is clear: The safety of the people on board must be our first concern and priority. What is urgently needed in the Mediterranean are predictable arrangements to ensure disembarkations of rescued persons can take place safely," spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. A similar impasse was resolved last month when Malta allowed two to disembark 49 migrants two NGO-operated vessels, including Sea-Watch 3, after the EU brokered a deal to distribute the migrants among eight EU nations. UNICEF's spokesman in Italy, Andrea Iacomini, lamented the frequency of such stand offs. "Is it possible that Europe enters into a sort of humanitarian paralysis every three days for dozens of human beings, including children, without coming up with a structural and shared solution," Iacomini said. "I hope that European governments find a speedy agreement for a humanitarian solution that offers a safe port to the eight unaccompanied minors on the Sea-Watch. A child is a child, not a hostage."
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TUNIS, January 26 -- Russia and Tunisia have agreed to bolster cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following the talks with his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui on Saturday. The participants of the meeting particularly focused on the developments in Libya, "where many problems remain, including the terrorism concern that Tunisia is also struggling from," he said. "Today we agreed to boost our anti-terrorism cooperation, both within the United Nations, and through bilateral ties," Lavrov emphasized. Russia is urging Tunisia to support the process of Syria’s returning to the League of Arab States (LAS), added Lavrov. "As we discussed both in Algeria, and in Morocco over the past few days, we would like Tunisia to support the process of Syria’s return to the Arab family, to the League of Arab States as well, all the more so as another Arab League summit will be held here in March," he said. According to Lavrov, Moscow appreciates Tunisia’s support "regarding Russian efforts within the Astana format to promote the Syrian settlement." "I believe that Tunis is interested in a quick return of Syrian refugees sheltered in Tunisia. We will do everything to create proper conditions in Syria for that kind of return," the diplomat added. The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011 amid the civil war that had engulfed the country. Most of the Arab nations recalled their ambassadors from the capital and joined the economic boycott against Damascus. PARIS, January 26 -- France's police and gendarmerie are completing preparations for an 11th wave of demonstrations, which the "yellow vests" protest movement outlined on Saturday. Unlike in previous times, law enforcement agencies have not yet announced the number of troops that they plan to mobilise to ensure the safety of citizens. Over 2,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and at least 10 have died. French Law Enforcement Deploys Armoured Vehicles Near Paris' Arc de Triumph As Police Anticipate ProtestsPolice deployed armoured vehicles at the Charles de Gaulle square on Saturday as protesters started to gather at the Champs Elysee in Paris. Prior to the demonstration, the French Interior Ministry didn't rule out the possibility of new clashes during protests. The "yellow vests" movement began in mid-November in response to the government's plan to raise fuel tax, with protests quickly turning violent. MADRID, January 26 -- Spain grieved on Saturday after a toddler who fell down a well was found dead in a tragic end to an intense 13-day rescue operation fraught with danger and setbacks. Hundreds of engineers, police and miners had been working round-the-clock under the media glare to try to reach two-year-old Julen Rosello, who plunged down a narrow, illegal well on January 13 while his parents prepared lunch nearby in Totalan, a southern town near Malaga. "Unfortunately at 1:25 am (0225 GMT) the rescue team reached the spot where they were looking for Julen and found the lifeless body of the little one," the central government's representative in the southern region of Andalusia, Alfonso Rodriguez Gomez de Celis, wrote on Twitter. "Not another time, no," shouted his father Jose when he is believed to have heard the news, an AFP photographer witnessed. Julen's parents lost another child, Oliver, aged three, in 2017. The child had cardiac problems. Julen made a "free fall" down to a depth of 71 metres (232 feet) when he hit a layer of earth, Gomez de Celis later told reporters, adding that an investigation was underway to determine any "potential liabilities" in the two-year-old's death. A hearse arrived at the mountain site shortly after the news broke to take his body to a funeral home, with psychologists at the side of Julen's parents. "All of Spain feels the infinite sadness of Julen's family. We have followed closely every step to reach him," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on Twitter, where the news was a trending topic. In a tweet, Spain's King Felipe VI extended his "deepest condolences to Julen's whole family." The Civil Guard police force, whose explosives experts had helped elite miners in digging a tunnel to reach Julen, tweeted a photo of an eye with tears pouring out. "Unfortunately, despite so much effort by so many people, it wasn't possible..." it wrote on its official account. KUALA LUMPUR, January 26 -- The apparent glut in the Malaysian property market would likely see a respite in March with the injection of stimulus and incentives. The Southeast Asian country’s property market has been making headlines over the so-called glut and analysts noted that developers were partly to blame for building properties that were not aligned with the demands. This has led to RM19.54 billion (US$4.7 billion) in unsold homes last year, of which most of them involved units priced over RM500,000 (US$120,481) and above per unit. However, Michael Geh, of Fiabci Malaysia, said this property downturn in the Southeast Asian country could be reversed once the newly-created National Housing Policy takes effect and when implementors announced their findings and recommendations. “There will be announcements of affordable housing, actions by Bank Negara Malaysia to stimulate the market and other incentives that are still under discussion between the industry and the government,” he said, as quoted by the Malay Mail. The country recorded a dismal performance in 2018, especially in the final quarter of the year, but the announcements would stimulate the property market, he said referring to a recent report in the Financial Times entitled “Malaysians unimpressed by steps to boost housing market”. “The report is too premature and it was based on outdated 2018 data without in-depth analysis of the ongoing plans by the current government,” he said. The FT report found Malaysian consumers were hesitant to buy property towards the end of 2018 even though the government introduced measures to encourage home ownership. However, Geh said the measures announced in the annual Budget last year would take full effect this year. “They used historical figures but referred to Budget 2019, in which the findings and more measures under the new national housing policy will only be fully revealed in March,” he said. A host of analysts believed property prices were expected to remain stagnant this year but Geh believes this may not be the case. “It may not be true for the whole of 2019, especially with the incentives that the government is planning to introduce,” he said. Geh said the Bank Negara Malaysia (central bank), the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Finance Ministry were holding regular engagements to come up with “goodies” for the industry and home buyers. “The new government is taking extraordinary steps in a tenacious manner that will help spur both the primary and secondary market of the property industry this year,” he said. "Malaysia stocks lead SE Asian gains, SET closes higher" BANGKOK, January 25 -- Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged higher on Friday with Malaysia leading the pack, while Thai shares closed higher. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index gained 3.09 points or 0.19% to 1,623.62, in turnover of 55 billion baht. CPALL Plc, PTT Global Chemical Plc and PTT Plc were the most active stocks.CPALL was up 25 satang or 0.32% to 77.25 baht, while PTT GC dropped 2 baht or 2.9% to 67 and PTT ened 25 satang or 0.51% lower to 48.75. Malaysian shares rose 0.4%, posting their fifth session of gains in six, driven by materials and consumer cyclicals. The investment banking arm of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Malaysia's largest bank by assets, is closing its institutional research business in Hong Kong and China as part of restructuring the institutional brokerage business, a bank spokeswoman said. Shares of the company rose 0.4% to their highest close in over three months. Singapore trimmed earlier gains after data showed industrial production rose slower than expected in December. Singapore shares climbed about 1% intraday on positive corporate earnings, before paring gains to close 0.4% higher. Keppel Corp Ltd posted a fourth-quarter net profit of S$135 million (US$99.39 million), compared to a net loss a year earlier, while Singapore Exchange Ltd posted a 9% rise in second-quarter net profit. Shares of Keppel Corp rose 1.1%, while those of Singapore Exchange firmed 0.9%. Data released earlier showed the city-state's manufacturing output in December rose 2.7% from a year earlier, compared with a Reuters forecast of 4.4% expansion and 7.6% on-year growth seen in November. "Should 4Q18 GDP manufacturing growth get shaded down in tandem with how industrial production fared (assuming ceteris paribus), 4Q18 GDP print will likely print at its 2.0% handle, thus bringing full-year 2018 GDP growth print to 3.2%," United Overseas Bank said in a note. Material and telecom stocks helped the benchmark Indonesian index close higher. Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Perusahaan Perseroan rose 0.5%, while Bank Central Asia Tbk PT firmed 0.7%. For the week, Indonesian shares added 0.7% in their fifth straight weekly gain. Philippine shares erased earlier gains to close slightly lower, but posted their fourth straight weekly gain. Industrials were the biggest drag on Friday with Aboitiz Equity Ventures dropping 4.2% and JG Summit slipping 2.1%. CARACAS, January 25 -- Wednesday saw violent protests in Venezuela's capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, who accused Washington of attempting to stage a coup in his country and moved to cut off diplomatic ties with the United States. Venezuelan ambassador to Syria Jose Gregorio Biomorgi Muzzatiz has compared the current events in his country with the situation in Syria in 2011, referring to the "same scenario". He noted that although the Venezuelan opposition uses such terms as democracy, it nevertheless does not recognise the legitimately elected president and has nominated an "unknown" candidate. He added that all state institutions in Venezuela are working in a routine mode and that the situation on the whole is "normal" and that the authorities have everything under under control. Muzzatiz was echoed by Chargé d'Affaires of the Venezuelan embassy in Serbia Dia Nader de El-Andari, who argued that the current crisis in Venezuela has been endorsed by the United States, with the support of the European Union, in line with the model of Libya and Syria. The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, in turn, said in a statement that it "strongly condemns the US intervention and is totally against a coup attempt against the legitimate government [of Venezuela] initiated by the United States". The group stressed that the decision by several nations, including the United States, to recognise opposition leader Guaido as the Venezuelan President does not make him the legitimate head of the country. Earlier, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cut off diplomatic ties with the United States, accusing it of attempting to stage a coup in Caracas, while Washington, in turn, urged him to step down. On Wednesday, at least two people reportedly died in Wednesday's violent protests against Maduro, which came amid the opposition's support for self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido. Apart from the US, Guaido was recognised by a number of countries, including Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, stressed that recent events in Venezuela were a gross violation of the country's sovereignty and blamed the United States for interfering. Bahram Qassemi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, in turn pointed out that "Iran opposes any interference into the internal affairs of Venezuela, as well as illegal and unconstitutional steps, such as an attempted coup, and supports the government and people of this country." SHANGHAI, January 25 -- The photo above shows a LED plant incubator at Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (MIECF) in Macao, south China. China has pledged to coordinate its efforts of environmental protection and economic development in 2019, an important year for winning the tough battle against pollution. At the annual Central Economic Work Conference earlier this month, authorities called for building on this year's achievement in pollution control, making more efforts and input in 2019. Since the turn of this year, China has made solid efforts to combat pollution and seen constant improvement of the environment. The Central Economic Work Conference made it clear that local governments must avoid past simple and unscrupulous practices in dealing with environmental problems. SEOUL, January 25 -- South Korea will steer away from medal-driven elite sports and pursue healthy sports values in the wake of a series of allegations of sexual abuse in the country's competitive and hierarchical sports. "We will not associate sporting success with national pride," Do said at a briefing in Seoul, announcing measures to prevent physical abuse and sexual assault in sports. The ministry will launch a nationwide investigation with the state human rights commission and the gender ministry to uncover sexual assault and human rights abuse in sports. It will meet some 63,000 young athletes across the country during a year-long probe on the country's closed and competitive sports community. The South Korean sports community has been hit by sexual assault and harassment revelations by female athletes against coaches and powerful figures in sports. "The government will also review the current system that rewards athletes who won at Olympic Games or world championships to see whether it instigates too much competition for international sporting success," he said. South Korea offers prize money to athletes who win gold medals at international games and exempts male winners from the country's mandatory military service. "We can't push athletes to extreme competition under the goal of advancing national pride and let human rights violations happen in the course. We will work to change the way we view sports," said Do. The government will consider closing the junior national sports competition, which they say encourages fierce competition at a young age. "The way young athletes train at a young age and develop their skills has exposed them to violence in the competitive training environment. We will review the current system thoroughly," said Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye, at the briefing. The government will also seek to revise the sports law within the first half of this year to strengthen punishment for sexual assault offenders, as well as those who attempt to conceal sexual abuse. It will also conduct a probe on the faculty of the Korea National Sport University, the nation's prestigious school in sport, which has been mired in allegations of sexual abuse and assault involving coaches and athletes from the school. KATHMANDU, January 25 -- The trans-Himalayan village of Halji is a small collection of about 80 closely packed mud-and-stone houses at the base of a moraine hill. Steep cliffs rise on either side of the village that is flanked by a glacial stream on its left. By contemporary standards, Halji is extremely remote. It is snowed in and cut off for six months of the year during winter and does not have mobile network connectivity. The district headquarters, Simikot, is a five-day walk away. And getting to Kathmandu involves an expensive flight from Simikot. But for centuries before, the three villages of Limi Valley - Halji, Til and Jang - were the focus of a vibrant caravan trade with neighbouring Tibet and part of the larger sacred landscape surrounding the holy Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Located in far western Nepal on the border with China, Limi Valley is an isolated but historically significant region where ancient Tibetan Buddhist culture thrives due to its proximity to Tibet. At the centre of this rich heritage is the famous 1,000-year-old Rinchenling monastery. Both the valley's largest village, Halji, and Rinchenling monastery - the cultural and spiritual centre of Limi - are threatened by climate change today. "Rinchenling is the oldest and biggest monastery in west Nepal," says Tsewang Lama, an anthropologist and the only parliament member from this district in Nepal. "Out of 21 students sent by the king of Guge in west Tibet to translate the texts from India's Kashmir, during the second renaissance of Buddhism, only two returned - one of whom went on to become the famous translator Rinchen Zangpo (958 - 1055). He built 108 monasteries in his life, one of them is this." Rinchen Zangpo is widely accredited with the second renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet and Halji's Richenling is one of the last few surviving monasteries from that period. The rest were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, which began in Tibet in 1959. BANGKOK, Janaury 25 -- Those planning to meme their way to electoral triumph via savvy Facebook campaigns need to think twice. Riding the easy train into parliament and Government House won’t be as simple as hiring the zeitgeist-exploding girls of BNK48 to serenade the youth vote. New campaign rules implemented yesterday alongside an actual poll date covered everything from how much money can be spent and the wording of campaign posters to a ban on hosting “entertainment” to a political party’s advantage. And for the first time in history, for the first election since it became the main platform for unfettered discourse, social media is covered by the regulations. Parties must notify the Election Commission what messages they will put out on which platforms for how long before they begin. Infractions may result in “red cards” disqualifying the contenders from running. “Violations on social media are digital crimes, which are not hard to trace,” Election Commissioner Charungwit Phumma told reporters. Under the regulations, social media campaigns can only contain candidates’ names, their photos, their party names, party logos, policies, slogans and biographical information. Parties must also refrain from “Liking” and sharing contents that defame rival candidates or contain “false information.” Social media is the one space that has eluded control of the military government, though some critics, satirists and opponents have been arrested and charged under the vaguely written cybercrimes law. The commission said it would convene a “war room” to monitor online political discourse during the campaign season. Citing fear of potential prosecution, some politicians, including Pheu Thai luminary Sudarat Keyuraphan, deactivated their Facebook accounts on Tuesday. But Thai Raksa Chart Party advisor Chaturon Chaisang said he would maintain his online presence in order to call for a fair election. The former education minister criticized the Election Commission’s rules on social media campaigning as backward.“Because the Election Commission does not understand the term ‘freedom,’ the rules turned out this way,” Chaturon wrote online. “But there’s no way they can block it. The social media world has gone far ahead. The Election Commission can’t catch up with it.” Other rules include:
ROTTERDAM, January 24 -- Almost two million people could face smaller work-related pensions next year because of problems facing the two big engineering funds, PMT and PME. Both funds booked poor investment returns in the final quarter of last year and do not have the assets considered necessary to meet all their pension obligations, hence the threat of cuts. ‘The chance of a cut has increased, but it is not yet 100%,’ Benne van Popta, who chairs the PMT pension fund said. Eric Uijen of the PME fund told broadcaster NOS there is a chance of ‘almost 80%’ than pensions will go down next year. Dutch pension funds are required to have a coverage ratio of 104%, which means effectively they should have €104 in assets for every €100 in pension obligations. Both the PME and PMT had dipped below 100% at the end of last year. The three big Dutch trade unions are starting a campaign in support of better pensions in the run up to the March provincial elections. March 18 is tipped as a national day of action. ‘We are aware of the fears and concerns of both pensions and people in work,’ Tuur Elzinga, head of the biggest trade union federation FNV. ‘People have watched their pensions evaporate in recent years and they have less to spend. We want to see index-linked pensions which go up with prices,’ he told the Telegraaf. More funds According to the Financieele Dagblad, some 40 of the 200 sector pension funds may have to cut pensions but most have until 2020 to get their investments up to scratch. Research by the family spending institute Nibud last year showed pensioners with a state pension and a supplementary pension of at least €5,000 a year have been steadily losing spending power since 2010. Reforms Talks between unions and employers on reforming the Dutch pension system collapsed last November after the big three unions pulled out. Experts believe that the Dutch pension system – a combination of a state pension (AOW) and corporate pension schemes – needs to be reformed because the aging population is putting more pressure on the current pension system and pension funds are having to pay out to more people for longer. The rise in self-employment is also having an impact, with fewer people paying into company and sector-wide schemes. Talks on reform began several years ago. Source: DutchNews SHANGHAI, January 24 -- Workers conduct quality check on mulberry alcohol in Gaoqing County, east China's Shandong Province. The cultivation of mulberry trees and silkworms is a long-standing agricultural practice in Gaoqing County. In addition to a market-oriented business strategy, the local authorities encourages innovation and research to develop a green and sustainable mulberry-related industry, which not only produces mulberry leaves, but also turns out silk fabrics, mulberry leaf tea, mulberry alcohol, dried mulberry fruits and other derivative products. China has pledged to coordinate its efforts of environmental protection and economic development in 2019, an important year for winning the tough battle against pollution. At the annual Central Economic Work Conference earlier this month, authorities called for building on this year's achievement in pollution control, making more efforts and input in 2019. Since the turn of this year, China has made solid efforts to combat pollution and seen constant improvement of the environment. The Central Economic Work Conference made it clear that local governments must avoid past simple and unscrupulous practices in dealing with environmental problems. "SET edges higher, Philippine shares lead SE Asian peers" BANGKOK, January 24 -- Thai shares were slightly higher on Thursday, while the Philippine market led the pack as investors expect the country's central bank to ease monetary policies after data showed the economy grew slower than expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index gained 3.15 points or 0.19% to 1,620.53, in turnover worth 60 billion baht. CPALL Plc, PTT Plc and Airports of Thailand Plc topped the most active stocks. CPALL added 1.50% to 77 baht, while PTT and AoT dropped 1.01% to 49 baht and 1.44% to 68.25 baht, respectively. The Philippine economy grew 6.1% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, slightly faster than the previous quarter's 6.0%, but below the 6.2% seen in a Reuters poll. That brought full-year growth of 6.2%, below the government's downwardly revised target of 6.5-6.9% and 2017's pace of 6.7%. Some economists say if growth slows more, the central bank, which hiked rates five times in 2018 by 175 basis points in total to battle high inflation, could loosen policy this year. "We can see the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) slashing RRR (reverse repo rate) further in the first quarter followed by a possible policy rate cut in the second quarter to help bolster growth for the second half of the year," Nicholas Mapa, a senior economist with ING, said in a note. The benchmark Philippine stock index rose 0.9% to its highest close in over 10 months, buoyed by financials and industrials. Index heavyweights Universal Robina Corp and Bank of the Philippine Islands gained 3.5% and 2.1%, respectively. Malaysian stocks rose 0.3% after data showed lower-than-expected December inflation and the central bank held rates. The consumer price index rose 0.2% in December from a year earlier, below the 0.4% forecast in a Reuters poll. The central bank kept its key interest rate at 3.25% as widely expected and said the economy was expected to remain on a steady growth path in 2019. Materials and financials were among the top gainers with Malayan Banking Bhd rose 0.8%, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd firmed 1.2%. Meanwhile, a trading mishap in Singapore's Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd sent the benchmark stock index down as much as 0.6% before it recovered. Shares of Jardine Matheson briefly tanked 83.5%, losing nearly US$41 billion in market value, before recovering in what traders said was likely a "fat finger" error when 167,500 shares changed hands at $10.99 compared to Wednesday's close of $66.47. Jardine Matheson closed 0.5% higher. |
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