Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 12 April - 18 April 2021

Economic

Fed Chair warns cyberattacks pose biggest threat to US economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has warned that the biggest risk to the US economy is the threat of cyberattacks, which could bring financial institutions to a halt by taking away their ability to track payments. Issuing a warning, the head of America’s central banking system said, the risk that the Federal Reserve is keeping its “eyes on the most now is [the] cyber risk,” laying out a situation in which a hack could easily take financial institutions offline. While there are a number of potential cyberattacks that could cripple the US economy, the Fed chairman said the nightmare scenario for the US would be a hack that removes the ability of institutions to track payments being made and received, bringing part or all of the financial system to a halt. Despite the ever-growing concern of cyberattacks among officials at the Federal Reserve, Powell sought to reassure Americans that the institution is equipped to repel or deal with any threat that emerges, ensuring that it “spends so much time, energy and money guarding against these things.”
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China aims to fully digitize manufacturing sector by 2035 in ambitious plan

China is aiming to have its manufacturing enterprises fully digitized by 2035, with breakthroughs in various types of intelligent manufacturing equipment, key parts and devices and software, in a bid to upgrade its massive but declining manufacturing sectors and avoid technological blockades by the US. As part of a draft action plan issued on April 14, 70 percent of the intelligent manufacturing equipment and 50 percent of industrial software will be supplied domestically.China will also aim to formulate or revise 200 national and industry standards for intelligent manufacturing and establish more than 120 industry internet platforms, said the draft plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).To achieve these goals, China is to research and develop 1,000 kinds of advanced intelligent manufacturing devices and products, including automobile engines and gearboxes, aerospace large-scale composite intelligent placements, large-scale integrated circuit manufacturing equipment, and new display manufacturing equipment.The draft plan will also focus on technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, 5G, blockchain, virtual reality/augmented reality, and computing, according to the MIIT.
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New US rules restricting Chinese IT to impact 4.5m companies

The U.S. government will require as early as May that companies operating in America ask for permission to use information technology equipment and services from China or other countries deemed "adversaries," a move that could affect up to 4.5 million businesses. The rules apply to a broad swath of technology, including hardware and software used in critical infrastructure and telecommunications networks, as well as artificial intelligence and quantum computing tech. The list also covers services that handle personal information, along with monitoring equipment such as internet-enabled surveillance cameras, sensors and drones. Under these definitions, businesses that use Chinese routers in their internal networks, Chinese cameras in a factory or Chinese cloud services to handle customer data could face scrutiny. The rules alarm many in the business world. The Commerce Department's own impact analysis estimates the cost of compliance at $10 billion annually. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have urged Washington to delay implementation given this burden as well as a lack of clarity. The ability of these measures to protect against leaks also has been called into question.
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South Korea's Moon summons strategic companies amid chip shortage

South Korean President Moon Jae-in summoned business leaders in the semiconductor, auto and shipbuilding industries on April 15 to discuss strategies in the sectors as Seoul faces pressure from both the U.S. and China to take their side amid their battle for global tech supremacy. Executives from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries took part in the rare gathering at the presidential Blue House. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, Science Minister Choi Ki-young and Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo also attended. Moon used the start of the meeting to stress the importance of computer chips for South Korea as a wide range of global industries face a shortage of the key devices due to exploding demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. He added that the government would set up a wide range of plans to maintain its leading status and even to "widen gaps" with competitors. Regarding the chip shortage in the auto industry, Moon said "the government is doing the best to secure volumes in cooperation with companies" and "will raise the portion of domestic production through an alliance of the chip and auto industries."
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SoftBank's drones keep mobile network alive in disaster-hit Japan

Japanese telecom SoftBank Corp. will deploy drones that serve as base stations for mobile phones, in a move to help restore vital communications quickly when a natural disaster damages base stations on land. SoftBank plans to deploy more than 10 drones at its nationwide locations by next spring. The equipment will allow phone calls of up to 2,000 people simultaneously within a 10 kilometer radius. The aims to bring back a downed network in about an hour using the drone base stations. The devices, measuring 1.5 meters in diameter, are developed in-house and fly 100 to 150 meters above the ground. They are able to relay communication between satellites or distant base stations and consumers' smartphones. SoftBank's latest effort is an example of how Japanese companies are preparing to cope with emergencies in a country known for frequent natural disasters. Large-scale earthquakes and typhoons can cripple base stations, causing long-term blackouts and cutting off communication that can be crucial for saving lives. In the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, base stations controlled by all three of Japan's major mobile phone companies along the Tohoku coast were severely damaged. It took one month to restore them.
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Northeast Asia power grid could slash cost of green energy: Chinese study

A super power grid connecting all the countries of northeast Asia would make renewable energy as cheap and available as coal, according to a new study by Chinese scientists. As a region, northeast Asia, which comprises China, Russia, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea and Japan, consumes about a third of the world's energy and the industry estimates its annual electricity demand will double to 6.4 petawatt-hours by 2050. With the exception of North Korea, the five nations have signed a series of agreements in recent years to connect their national power lines and coordinate electricity production and distribution. A regional power grid would enable long-distance, cross-border transmission of renewable energy like hydropower, wind and solar at a cost as low as 0.35 yuan (five US cents) per kilowatt-hour, or about the same as the electricity generated by China's coal-fired power plants, according to the study published this week on the website of Proceedings of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering. The cost would "significantly increase the proportion of clean energy in electric power supply systems", Zhang Ning, a professor of electrical engineering at Tsinghua University, and his team said in the paper.
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China's births may fall below 10 million annually in next five years: Expert

China could see its number of births slide below 10 million annually in the next five years if the government does not quickly abolish its policy of limiting families to two children, an expert was quoted in domestic media as saying. China's total population may also fall in a few years, Dong Yuzheng, director at the Guangdong Academy of Population Development, told Yicai, a Chinese financial news outlet. The number of babies born in China fell by 580,000 to 14.65 million in 2019 and the birth rate of 10.48 per thousand was the lowest since 1949 when present methods of collating data began, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. It has yet to disclose a figure for last year, although it typically releases such data at the end of February. The country's falling birth rate and its rapidly greying society is expected to test its ability to pay and care for its elderly. Although China abolished its decades-long one-child policy in 2016, couples have been discouraged from having larger families by the rising costs of healthcare, education and housing. Economic uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have further weighed on decisions to have children.
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COVID-19: Africa's aviation industry suffers massive losses

Africa's airlines have registered low passenger volumes since the onset of the COVID pandemic. The aviation industry's progress in connecting the continent over the past decade is now at stake. Many prominent carriers like Kenya Airways have trimmed business trips across the continent down to an absolute minimum. Popular destinations to Asia, Europe, and North America have also been affected. In February, Air Namibia ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy. The airline had been in operation for more than 70 years. For a year now, South African Airways has grounded its fleet. It had been struggling even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. According to figures from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), the turnover of airlines on the continent decreased by around €8.6 billion ($8 billion). This has been a heavy blow to an industry that raced from one record to the next before the crisis. And there is no end in sight to the downward trend. The global slump in intercontinental air traffic is also affecting intra-African connections — with severe consequences. "It may be that passengers have to fly through hubs outside the continent if they want to go from one African country to another," said Abderahmane Berthe, secretary general of AFRAA.
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Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Project Is Too Risky, Rivals Say

Elon Musk’s internet satellite venture has spawned an unlikely alliance of competitors, regulators and experts who say the billionaire is building a near-monopoly that is threatening space safety and the environment.The Starlink project, owned by Mr. Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX, is authorized to send some 12,000 satellites into orbit to beam superfast internet to every corner of the Earth. It has sought permission for another 30,000.Now, rival companies such as Viasat Inc., OneWeb Global Ltd., Hughes Network Systems and Boeing Co. are challenging Starlink’s space race in front of regulators in the U.S. and Europe. Some complain that Mr. Musk’s satellites are blocking their own devices’ signals and have physically endangered their fleets.Mr. Musk’s endeavor is still in beta testing but it has already disrupted the industry, and even spurred the European Union to develop a rival space-based internet project to be unveiled by the end of the year.The critics’ main argument is that Mr. Musk’s launch-first, upgrade-later principle, which made his Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.13% electric car company a pioneer, gives priority to speed over quality, filling Earth’s already crowded orbit with satellites that may need fixing after they launch.
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Shell, Exxon Look to Profit From Capturing Customers’ Carbon Emissions

Oil companies have for decades made money by extracting carbon from the ground. Now they are trying to make money putting it back. Energy giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell are pushing carbon capture and storage—where carbon is gathered and buried underground—as part of a drive to reduce both their own and their customers’ emissions. Executives say the service could become a new source of income when the industry is grappling with how to adapt to a lower-carbon economy. Last month, Shell, Total SE and Equinor AS A launched a joint venture to store carbon in a rock formation thousands of feet beneath the seabed off the coast of Norway. The state-backed Northern Lights project is set to be the first-time companies outside the oil industry will be able to pay to have their carbon gathered and stored. Exxon has said it plans to form a new business unit to commercialize carbon capture and storage, forecasting it could become a $2 trillion market by 2040. Chevron Corp. has formed partnerships on storage projects, while BP PLC is codeveloping storage projects in the U.K. and Australia.
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Strategic

Ending 'Forever War,' Biden orders Afghan withdrawal from May 1

In a televised address on April 14, the U.S. president, who is the fourth American commander-in-chief to oversee the war, said: "It is time to end America's longest war. It is time for American troops to come home." "We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago," said Biden. "That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021." "We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We will do it responsibly," he added, saying the drawdown will begin on May 1, the original date of withdrawal agreed between the Taliban and the Trump administration. Biden's announcement to withdraw the roughly 2,500 American troops by the symbolic date of September 11, 2021 -- two decades after the terror attacks that triggered the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan -- came after a phone call with his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani. The Afghan president confirmed on Twitter that he had spoken to Biden before the official announcement. "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan respects the U.S. decision, and we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition," Ghani stated.
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Biden Proposes a U.S.-Russian Summit in Call to Putin

President Biden on April 13 proposed that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a summit in a third country in the coming months, a personal invitation that came in the midst of a conversation addressing deep differences, including Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine. Mr. Biden during the call with Mr. Putin stressed his commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said, while expressing concern over a Russian troop buildup on Ukraine’s borders. The White House said Mr. Biden also made clear that the U.S. would defend its national interests in response to Russian actions including “cyber intrusions and election interference.” The call took place as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Brussels to meet with Ukrainian officials and with North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. The Kremlin confirmed the two leaders discussed a possible summit, saying Mr. Biden “expressed interest in normalizing the state of affairs on the bilateral track.” In Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization called April 13 for Russia to end the military buildup. The moves have sparked concerns of a major escalation in the conflict between the two countries, which has simmered since the Kremlin invaded in 2014.
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Ukraine-Turkey cooperation has its limits

The rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine offer Turkey an opportunity to reinvigorate its ties with America and the rest of NATO after a lull. On the eve of the Erdogan-Zelensky summit, the Turkish authorities announced two US destroyers, USS Donald Cook and USS Roosevelt were headed to the Black Sea.The Pentagon was much less gung-ho, noting that such deployments are part of NATO’s regular rotation arrangement. Eventually, the US cancelled the ships’ dispatch. Biden’s team opted for imposing a new round of sanctions on Russia, linked to interference in American politics rather than Ukraine, instead of ramping up American military presence in the region.Turkey is therefore unlikely to take a gamble risking a head-on collision with Russia over Ukraine. At the joint press conference with Zelensky, Erdogan called for de-escalation in the Black Sea. There is no indication that Turkey is prepared to up the ante, sending direct military assistance to the frontlines, as it did in Nagorno-Karabakh or in Libya last year.It is in no position to tip the balance of power in Kyiv’s favour and, in addition, might have to face harsh consequences.
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China hits back at Japan-US statement that names Taiwan

Hours after Japan and the U.S. named Taiwan in a leader's summit statement for the first time in more than five decades, China hit back at the communique that also highlighted the two allies' concerns over Hong Kong and human rights issues in Xinjiang. "These matters bear on China's fundamental interests and allow no interference. We express strong concern and firm opposition to relevant comments in the Joint Leaders' Statement," a spokesperson at the Chinese embassy said in a statement on April 17. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang belong to "China's internal affairs," the statement said. After their summit in Washington on April 16, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement that referred to Taiwan, saying, "We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues." The last time Japan and the U.S. mentioned the island in such a statement was in 1969 after a summit between then Japanese Prime Minister Sato Eisaku and U.S. President Richard Nixon. This was before both countries normalized diplomatic ties with China in the 1970s.
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Philippines and US boost defense ties amid South China Sea feud

The Philippines and the U.S. on April 12 kicked off two weeks of military drills in a showcase of their defense alliance amid a fresh feud between Manila and Beijing over the disputed South China Sea. The resumption of the annual exercises comes as officials from both countries recently discussed tensions in the disputed waters. They also expressed hopes on the future of their alliance, which has been thrown into uncertainty by President Rodrigo Duterte's efforts to move closer to China. This year's Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises, which were canceled last year due to the pandemic, will involve 960 U.S. and Philippine troops, a scaled-down version of previous drills to comply with health protocols. The joint war games, which will include maritime security training, come as the presence of dozens of Chinese vessels in the disputed Whitsun Reef rattled the Philippine military in recent weeks and triggered an open verbal spat between Philippines and Chinese officials. The U.S. has backed the Philippines in the feud, saying that an armed attack on a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea would prompt a response from Washington under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
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'Seoul has no reason to object if Japan's Fukushima water release follows IAEA standards': Foreign Minister

South Korea's foreign minister said April 19 his country has little reason to object to Japan's plan to release radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea if it follows related International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards. Chung Eui-yong made the remarks during a parliamentary interpellation session in response to a query by Rep. Moon Jin-seog of the Democratic Party. "If (Japan) follows the due processes under the standards of IAEA, (Seoul) has no particular reason to object," the foreign minister said. Chung also said Japan should meet three conditions ― providing enough scientific evidence and information and sufficiently sharing such information; having more sufficient consultation in advance; and guaranteeing South Korea's participation in IAEA's safety verification process ― in order to win Seoul's understanding on the issue. Tokyo announced April 13 that it plans to start releasing over 1.2 million tons of Fukushima's contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean in two years, triggering a backlash from Seoul, Beijing and other neighbours.
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Myanmar junta chief to attend ASEAN summit in first foreign trip since coup

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia on April 24, Thailand said on April 17, for his first known foreign trip since he seized power on Feb. 1.Myanmar has been in upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. Security forces have killed 728 people, according to an activist group, in an attempt to crush protests.In the latest violence, security forces shot and killed two protesters in the ruby-mining town of Mogok, a resident told Reuters, while several small bombs went off in the main city of Yangon, wounding several people, media outlets reported.Myanmar's neighbours have been trying to encourage talks between the junta and the ousted government, but the military has shown little willingness to engage.Several of the 10 ASEAN leaders, among them Min Aung Hlaing, confirmed they would attend the meeting in Jakarta, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said.A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment.
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Syria to hold presidential election, slammed by opposition, on May 26

Syria will hold a presidential election on May 26 that is virtually certain to return President Bashar al-Assad for a third term - an event that Washington and the opposition say is a farce designed to cement his autocratic rule.Assad's family and his Baath party have ruled Syria for five decades with the help of the security forces and the army, where his Alawite minority dominate.This year is the 10th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which triggered a civil war that has left much of Syria in ruins.The multi-sided conflict has sucked in world powers, killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more, but is now nearing its end with Assad, supported by Russian and Iranian allies, back in control of most of the country.Nominations for the election close in 11 days' time. Candidates must have lived in Syria for the last 10 years, which prevents key opposition figures in exile from standing.The poll was dismissed by the mainstream Turkish-backed opposition alliance, whose forces control a swathe of territory in northwestern Syria where millions of civilians have fled to shelter from Assad's bombs.
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‘Prolonged’ nuclear talks with US would be ‘harmful’, Khamenei warns as Iran reportedly close to starting 60% uranium enrichment

Iranian-US talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal should not “drag on,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said, warning Washington against demanding Tehran return to its commitments before sanctions are lifted. “The talks shouldn’t become talks of attrition. They shouldn’t be [conducted] in a way that parties drag on and prolong the talks. This is harmful to the country,” Khamenei said in Tehran on April 14.“Most of the proposals by the Americans are arrogant and contemptuous. They are not worth looking at,” he added in remarks carried by Iranian news network Press TV.The negotiations took a new twist this week when Iran blamed Israel for an apparent sabotage attack that caused a power outage at its nuclear facility in Natanz, an act Iranian President Rouhani branded “nuclear terrorism.”In response to the incident, Iran announced plans to enrich uranium to a record 60% purity in Natanz, as well as to install around 1,000 additional nuclear centrifuges. The move is a further breach of the JCPOA, which only permits Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67% purity, although the country has already hit the 20% level.
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Iran weighs counter-sanctions, stops cooperation with EU in key areas after Brussels blacklists officials over protest crackdown

Tehran will suspend its cooperation with Brussels in several areas, the foreign ministry has announced, in response to EU sanctions on Iranian military and police chiefs over the "lethal suppression" of protesters. Iran is considering reciprocal sanctions and will stop all "comprehensive talks" with the EU on human rights, terrorism, illicit drugs and refugees, foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on April 12. He added that the EU sanctions "lack any credibility" and "have no value as they have been taken by false preachers of human rights." Earlier on April 12, the EU announced in its official journal that it was sanctioning three entities and eight individuals over the "widespread and disproportionate use of force by the Iranian security forces" during the 2019 protests. In November 2019, two weeks of demonstrations broke out across Iran over a sudden rise in fuel prices and escalated into demands for the government to resign. The UN has said that at least 304 people died in the protests and their suppression, while Reuters says it has interior ministry information that shows the toll was around 1,500. Iran denies this.
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US to send 500 extra troops to Germany ‘as early as fall’, Pentagon chief says, as Berlin praises ‘strong signal of solidarity’

The American military presence in Germany will be increased by 500 soldiers, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said, reversing the policy of former President Donald Trump.Around 500 additional troops will be permanently stationed in the city of Wiesbaden “as early as this fall,” Austin said at news conference with his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Berlin. Wiesbaden already houses a US Army base, and a military airfield is located nearby.Austin said new soldiers will “augment our existing abilities to prevent conflict and, if necessary, to fight and win.” He added that more troops will increase the capacity for space, cyber and electronic warfare, and improve the ability to “surge forces at a moment’s notice to defend our allies.”Local media quoted Kramp-Karrenbauer as saying that the news of additional forces is a “strong signal of solidarity” between Berlin and Washington, and that German authorities will do their best to accommodate American troops. She also praised Austin, calling him “a friend of this country.”
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Taiwan ‘very willing’ to work with US to counter China’s ‘adventurous maneuvers and provocations’

Taiwan is “very willing” to work with the US and other “like-minded countries” to deter China, the island’s president has said, as she met an unofficial delegation from Washington sent as a “personal signal” by Joe Biden.Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met a delegation of former US officials, including former Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg, on April 15. Tsai also vowed to continue working with Washington to counter “cognitive warfare” and misinformation, allegedly spread by Beijing, but did not elaborate on the matter. Former Senator Dodd said the US’ partnership with Taiwan is “stronger than ever,” promising the Biden administration would be a “reliable, trusted friend.” The unofficial visit to the island is a “personal signal” from US President Joe Biden to show his “commitment to Taiwan and its democracy,” a senior White House official told Reuters.The visit comes amid new live-fire drills by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA), announced by Beijing on April 14, off the part of its coast facing Taiwan.
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Radical Pakistan party releases 11 police hostages after anti-France protests

Eleven Pakistani police officers seized by supporters of a radical group as part of their campaign to get the French ambassador expelled have been released, officials said on April 19. The officers were grabbed as hostages on April 18 by supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) during violent protests in Lahore. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the police had been released early April 19 after "negotiations" with the TLP, which the government banned last week after effectively labelling it a terrorist organisation. "Negotiations have been started with TLP; the first round completed successfully," said Rashid in a video on Twitter. "They have released 11 policemen who were made hostages." He said a second round of negotiations would take place later April 19, although it is not clear what they will discuss. Previously the TLP had set an Apr 20 deadline for the expulsion of the French ambassador. The group has been behind an anti-France campaign for months since President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of Charlie Hebdo magazine to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad - an act deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.
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New Zealand says 'uncomfortable' with expanding Five Eyes

New Zealand said it is "uncomfortable" with expanding the role of the Five Eyes, a post-war intelligence grouping which also includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, recently criticised by China.China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a speech that New Zealand sought a predictable diplomatic relationship. New Zealand will find it necessary to speak out on issues where it does not agree with China, including developments in Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, she said in a speech on April 19 to the government-funded New Zealand China Council. In later comments to media reported by New Zealand's Newshub, Mahuta said New Zealand did not favour invoking the Five Eyes for "messaging out on a range of issues that really exist out of the remit of the Five Eyes". "We are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes," she said. Last month, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said "the Five Eyes have taken coordinated steps to gang up on China", after Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement on Xinjiang.
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EU sets out Indo-Pacific plan, says it is not 'anti-China'

The European Union resolved on April 19 to step up its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, using areas from security to health to protect its interests and counter China's rising power, although the bloc insists its strategy is not against Beijing. Led by France, Germany and the Netherlands, which first set out ways to deepen ties with countries such as India, Japan and Australia, the 27-member bloc wants to use the nascent plan to show Beijing that it is against the spread of authoritarianism. The bloc "considers that the EU should reinforce its strategic focus, presence and actions in the Indo-Pacific ... based on the promotion of democracy, rule of law, human rights and international law", EU foreign ministers said in a statement. Diplomats said the plan was not "anti-China". The 10-page document will now be followed by a more detailed strategy in September, foreign ministers agreed at a video conference, saying they would seek to work with "like-minded partners" to uphold basic rights in the Indo-Pacific region. The plan could mean a higher EU diplomatic profile on Indo-Pacific issues, with more EU personnel and investment in the region.
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Iran ‘always welcomes’ dialogue with Saudis

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on April 19 that Tehran always welcomes dialogue with Saudi Arabia, but he did not confirm nor deny direct talks this month between the arch-rivals.The two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2016 and have been engaged in several proxy wars in the region as they vie for influence.A senior Iranian official and two regional sources had said that Saudi and Iranian officials held discussions in Iraq in a bid to ease tensions as Washington works to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran and end the Yemen war."We have seen media reports about talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, although the reports sometimes had contradictory quotes," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference."What is important is that the Islamic ­Republic of Iran has always welcomed dialogue with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it in the interest of the people of the two countries, as well as peace and stability in the region," he added.Saudi authorities have not responded to the request for comment on the talks.
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Medical

French health chiefs recommend 3rd dose of Moderna, Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines for people with weakened immune systems

People with weakened immune systems should receive three doses of the two main Covid-19 vaccines being used in France made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the country’s top health officials have recommended. “The injection of a third dose of mRNA vaccine is necessary for severely immunocompromised people,” the Directorate General of Health (DGS) said in a note sent out to health professionals on April 11. This includes people who have undergone organ transplants or recent bone marrow transplants, as well as dialysis patients and those with autoimmune diseases who are under strong immunosuppressive treatments, BFMTV reported. The third dose must be administered four weeks after the second, or “as soon as possible” for people who have already exceeded this period, the DGS said. Cancer patients, people with chronic kidney disease who aren’t on dialysis, and patients with autoimmune diseases who don’t take Anti-CD20 or antimetabolite drugs are not included in the new advisory, the DGS said. The agency also said it would make further vaccine recommendations.
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Some countries limit AstraZeneca vaccine use, U.S. pauses J&J shot

Some countries are restricting use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to certain age groups, or suspending use, after European and British regulators confirmed possible links to rare blood clots.Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine has also been hit by concerns over blood clots. European regulators are reviewing such cases and are expected to issue findings on April 20. U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing its use temporarily on April 13 and a U.S. health advisory panel will meet on April 23 to discuss whether the pause should continue.J&J has stated that no clear causal relationship has been established between the clots and its vaccine.The developments pose a risk to vaccination plans in Europe, where authorities have so far maintained that the benefits of the AstraZeneca and J&J shots outweigh risks.As of April 4, the European Medicines Agency had received reports of 169 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, after 34 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been given in the European Economic Area. Canada and Australia have also reported some cases.
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'A very good weird': Israel drops outdoor COVID mask order

Israelis went about barefaced on April 18 after the order to wear masks outdoors was rescinded in another step towards relative normality thanks to the country's mass-vaccination against COVID-19.With about 81% of citizens or residents over 16 - the age group eligible for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Israel - having received both doses, contagions and hospitalisations are down sharply.But entry by foreigners is still limited and non-immune Israelis who return from abroad must self-isolate, due to concern virus variants could challenge the vaccine. The Health Ministry said it had detected seven cases of a new Indian variant in Israel, whose potency was being assessed."We are leading the world right now when it comes to emerging from the coronavirus," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters. "(But) we have still not finished with the coronavirus. It can return."The police-enforced wearing of protective masks outdoors, ordered a year ago for non-exercise activities, was scrapped. But the Health Ministry said the requirement still applied for indoor public spaces and urged citizens to keep masks to hand.
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