Debt relief
NAIROBI/BEIJING - China stopped short of providing the debt relief sought by many African countries this week, but pledged 360 billion yuan ($F112.68billion) over three years in credit lines and investments. The Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) launched in 2000 took on an enhanced role after the 2013 inception of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to recreate the ancient Silk Road for the world’s second largest economy and biggest bilateral lender to Africa.
Special meeting
BANGKOK – Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Saturday her new government will seek to stimulate the economy “right away” and will continue with the policies of former premier Srettha Thavisin. She held a special Cabinet meeting earlier in the day to prepare policies that will be delivered at a 2-day meeting of Parliament on Thursday and Friday that will mark the formal beginning of her administration.
Naval power
SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emphasised the importance of strengthening naval power during a tour of a naval base construction site, state media KCNA reported on Sunday. “Now that we are soon to possess large surface warships and submarines which cannot be anchored by the existing facilities for mooring warships, the construction of a naval base for running the latest large warships has become a pressing task,” Mr Kim said.
First casino
TOKYO – Japan’s first casino resort is likely to open in the western city of Osaka in late 2030 as a main operator is planning to waive its right to withdraw from the project without penalty, local media reported on Saturday. The operator, Osaka IR KK, will begin preparatory work at the end of September for the integrated resort (IR), Nikkei business daily reported, without saying where it got the information.
Violence kills 6
GUWAHATI, India – Six people, including one civilian, were killed as fresh violence broke out between two warring ethnic communities in the northeast Indian state of Manipur on Saturday, authorities said. The majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis have clashed sporadically since last year after a court ordered the state government to consider extending special economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education enjoyed by the Kukis to the Meiteis as well. More than 225 people have been killed and some 60,000 have been displaced.
Warships
FRANKFURT - Two German warships are set to pass through the sensitive Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday. Reuters reported last month that the warships were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasise that Berlin views the trip as normal.