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South Korea Weather Update: Rain To Continue Till Tuesday, Influenced By Typhoon Songda

By
Angel Gimalo
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It’s raining Sunday all across South Korea, which is under the influence of Typhoon Songda, though it’s not been a direct hit.

The rain will continue through Tuesday, though, with the approach of another typhoon, Trases.

This typhoon will be at its closest to Jeju Island on Monday, before weakening into a tropical depression.

Through Monday, Jeju Island and the southern coast are expected to get between 50 and 100 millimeters of rain.

Parts of the southern coast, near the Jiri-san Mountains will get more than 200 millimeters.

Jeju Island was under a heavy rain alert on Saturday with strong winds, but there were no reports of damage.

The rain has cooled things down somewhat today’s high below 30 in Seoul, compared to around 35 on Saturday.

Putin Signs New Maritime Doctrine, Issues Threat

By
Zoe Maven
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, has approved a new Maritime Doctrine, in which he refers to the Black Sea as a “zone of national interest” and also calls it a threat to NATO.

In the new Russian doctrine, the “borders and zones of the country’s national interests” are marked primarily by the Arctic, Black, Okhotsk and Bering seas.

Vladimir Putin issued a threat in saying that the Russian Armed Forces will receive Zircon hypersonic missile systems in the coming months. The Admiral Gorshkov frigate will be the first carrier of such weapons. According to Putin, there are “no obstacles” for such weapon systems.

The maritime doctrine states that the main threats to the security of the Russian Federation are “the course of the United States for dominance in the world’s oceans and the growth of NATO activity.”

The Russian president called the lack of the required number of basing points for Russian ships abroad “a risk for the maritime activities of the Russian Federation.”

Russia will increase the combat capabilities of its Navy “to ensure national security and protect interests in the world’s oceans.”

Putin has planned the development of a shipbuilding complex in the far east of Russia that will focus on the construction of aircraft carriers.

Kenya Vice Presidential Nominee To Pay Back $1.7M

By
Zoe Maven
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A Kenyan court has ordered vice presidential nominee Rigathi Gachagua to repay $1.7 million which it determined were the proceeds of corruption, according to local media reports.

High Court Judge Esther Maina ruled the money came from government agencies but there was no evidence that Gachagua had supplied any goods or services, the Business Daily newspaper reported.

Gachugua said the judgment was intended to undermine his candidacy in the Aug. 9 election on presidential candidate William Ruto’s ticket, adding that he has instructed his lawyers to appeal, claiming Maina had refused his lawyers’ bid to challenge the evidence brought against him.

Ruto is the deputy president under current President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has denounced Ruto’s candidacy and backed veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga instead. Ruto and Odinga, the favorites on the ballot, have both pledged to stamp out corruption if elected.

Gachagua’s accounts were frozen in 2020 following a request by the government’s Asset Recovery Agency.

Gachagua, a first-time lawmaker and former government administrator, told a campaign meeting in late June that if elected, he will unfreeze the cash and build a rural home to host his supporters for entertainment sessions over roasted meat and porridge.

Zambia Debt Relief Pledge Clears Way For IMF Project

By
Zoe Maven
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Zambia’s creditors pledged to negotiate a restructuring of the country’s debts on Saturday, a move International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed as “clearing the way” for a $1.4 billion IMF program.

The creditor committee, co-chaired by China and France, said in a statement released by G-20 chair Indonesia that it supported Zambia’s “envisaged IMF upper credit tranche program and its swift adoption by the IMF Executive Board.”

In 2020, Zambia became the first African country in the pandemic era to default. The restructuring of its external debt, which amounted to more than $17 billion at the end of 2021, is seen by many analysts as a test case.

Zambia reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a $1.4 billion, three-year extended credit facility in December, conditional upon its ability to reduce debt to levels the IMF deems sustainable.

Zambia’s government welcomed the creditors’ pledge and its unlocking of IMF support.

On Friday, the finance ministry said it was canceling $2 billion in undisbursed loans.

Zambia’s creditor committee said that the restructuring terms would be finalized in a memorandum of understanding, without providing further details.

It also called on private creditors to “commit without delay” to negotiating debt relief on terms at least as favorable.

Kevin Daly, who chairs a committee of holders of Zambia’s Eurobonds, welcomed the bilateral creditors’ statement, but repeated a call to be given access to the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), which forms the basis of negotiations.

Truss Surges Ahead In UK Leadership Race

By
Zoe Maven
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U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss cemented her place as front-runner in the race to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, winning endorsement Saturday from an influential former rival for the top job.

Tom Tugendhat, who was eliminated from the contest in earlier rounds of voting by Conservative lawmakers, said Truss had the “resolution, determination, and passion” to be prime minister.

The endorsement is a blow to ex-Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the other finalist in the race for the next Conservative leader. The winner will be decided by votes from about 180,000 party members across the country.

Polls give Truss an edge with Tory members, though Sunak is more popular with the general public, who don’t have a say in the race. The winner will be announced Sept. 5 and will automatically become prime minister, replacing Johnson, who stepped down as Conservative leader this month after three years in office following months of ethics scandals.

Tugendhat, a prominent figure from the party’s centrist “One Nation” group, wrote in the Times of London newspaper that Truss had “the foreign-affairs experience to build alliances and keep our country safe.”

Truss also secured backing this week from Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who is highly regarded by party members for his handling of Britain’s response to the war in Ukraine. Wallace said Truss’s international experience as Britain’s top diplomat and commitment to increased military spending gave her “the edge.”

Sunak, who was the favorite candidate among Tory lawmakers who whittled down the field of candidates from an initial 11 contenders, is struggling to gain momentum.

He has accused Truss of peddling unrealistic promises, especially on the economy. Truss says she will cut taxes immediately to ease the cost-of-living crisis, while Sunak argues it is vital to get inflation under control first.

Spanish PM Sanchez Backs EU Candidacy For Bosnia

By
Zoe Maven
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Spain’s prime minister has expressed support for Bosnia to become a candidate for European Union membership amid fears that uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine could fuel instability in the ethnically torn Balkan nation that went through a devastating conflict in the 1990s’.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez came to Sarajevo from Serbia, where he kicked off his tour of the Balkan region on Friday. Sanchez will also travel to Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.

At a press conference Sanchez said “During my meetings today I wanted to highlight the opportunity that would be for Bosnia and Herzegovina if the European Union would take its enlargement with a new sense of urgency,”

Yet Bosnia, still dominated by nationalist politicians long after the end of the 1992-95 war, has been locked in political and ethnic disputes that have stalled the country’s EU membership bid.

Bosnia’s Serbs, backed by Russia, have sought to win more independence for their Serb-run half of the country, while disagreements between the Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, and Croats have blocked the normal functioning of their joint entity.

The political stalemate has sparked concerns that Bosnia could face further ethnic divisions if left behind in the EU process. Some regional leaders have called for Bosnia to be granted a EU candidate status along with Ukraine and Moldova in June to show the EU’s commitment to the volatile region.

Sanchez said Spain supports Bosnia’s “European perspective.” He expressed hope the country would take necessary steps to become a membership candidate by the time Spain takes over EU’s rotating presidency in the second half of 2023.

EU Parliament Leaders Slam Orban’s Racist Words

By
Zoe Maven
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Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban attends a joint press conference with the Austrian Chancellor at the Federal Chancellery during Orban's official visit to Austria in Vienna, Austria, July 28, 2022. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

The leaders of the European Parliament’s main parties on Saturday condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for “openly racist” comments he made about racial mixing.

The group in a statement said Orban’s warning last week against creating “peoples of mixed race” was “unacceptable” and breached the values enshrined in EU treaties.

A European Parliament spokeswoman said the declaration was adopted on Friday with a “very large” majority.

The parliament leaders also urged the European Commission and the European Council to condemn Orban’s statement “in the strongest terms”.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, without explicitly mentioning Orban, stressed on Saturday that “all EU member states, including Hungary, have subscribed to global common values” which are “non-negotiable”.

Of the EU parliament party leaders, only the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists Group opposed the decision to condemn Orban’s comments, according to a parliament source.

MEPs from Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party have been unaffiliated with any of the major EU parliament groupings since their split from the traditional right-of-centre European People’s Party.

The Hungarian leader’s remarks sparked widespread backlash outside the offices of the EU, including from the International Auschwitz Committee, while the United States called them “inexcusable” and reminiscent of the Nazi era.

Egypt Protests Ethiopia Plans To Fill Reservoir

By
Zoe Maven
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Egypt says it has protested to the UN Security Council Friday against Ethiopian plans to fill the reservoir of a controversial Nile dam for a third year without agreement from downstream countries.

The multi-billion dollar Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile is set to be the largest hydroelectric scheme in Africa but has been at the centre of a dispute with Egypt and Sudan ever since work began in 2011.

Foreign ministry statement said Egypt “received a message from the Ethiopian side on July 26, stating that Ethiopia would continue filling the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam during the current flood season

In response, Egypt wrote to the UN Security Council “to register its objection and complete rejection of Ethiopia’s continuation of filling the Renaissance Dam unilaterally without a deal.”

The ministry stressed that Egypt maintains its “legitimate right… to take all necessary measures to ensure and protect its national security, including against any risks that Ethiopia’s unilateral measures may cause in the future.”

Addis Ababa deems the GERD essential for the electrification and development of Africa’s second most populous country.

But Cairo and Khartoum fear it could threaten their access to vital Nile waters and have demanded a written agreement between the three countries on the dam’s filling and operation.

The $4.2-billion dam is ultimately expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, more than doubling Ethiopia’s output. The first of 13 turbines began generating power in February.

The process of filling the GERD’s vast reservoir began in 2020, with Ethiopia announcing in July that year it had hit its target of 4.9 billion cubic metres.

King Mohamed IV Reaches Out To Algeria

By
Zoe Maven
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For his 23rd anniversary as king of Morocco, Mohamed VI reached out for reconciliation with Algeria.

Relations between the two countries have been strained for several months over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Rabat has been putting forward a broad autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty supported by many countries but rejected by Algiers backing the separatist Polisario Front.

In his address Mohammed VI asked Moroccans to preserve the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and good neighbourliness” towards Algeria, denouncing those who infused hatred between the two.

Last year, the king had already chosen to address a message of peace to its neighbour.

An unsuccessful attempt as in August, Algeria cut diplomatic ties with Morocco accusing it of “hostile actions

China Announces Military Exercise Opposite Taiwan

By
Zoe Maven
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China said it was conducting military exercises Saturday off its coast opposite Taiwan after warning Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House of Representatives to scrap possible plans to visit the island democracy, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

The ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, was conducting “live-fire exercises” near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., the official Xinhua News Agency said. The Maritime Safety Administration warned ships to avoid the area.

Such exercises usually involve artillery. The one-sentence announcement gave no indication whether Saturday’s exercise also might include missiles, fighter planes or other weapons.

Pelosi, who would be the highest-ranking American elected official to visit Taiwan since 1997, has yet to confirm whether she will go. President Xi Jinping warned his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, in a phone call Thursday against “external interference” in Beijing’s dealings with the island.

China says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations. It sees visits by American officials as encouragement for the island to make its decades-old de facto independence official.

The Ministry of Defense warned Washington this week not to allow Pelosi, who is Biden’s equal in rank as leader of one of three branches of government, to visit Taiwan. A spokesman said the PLA would take unspecified “strong measures” to stop pro-independence activity.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland.

The two governments say they are one country but disagree over which is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars in trade and investment.

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