SINGAPORE: Voting for Singapore's Presidential Election will proceed at the overseas polling station in Hong Kong, despite the warning signal issued by the city's weather authority as Super Typhoon Saola draws closer.
The Elections Department (ELD) said on Friday (Sep 1) morning that it is aware that the Hong Kong Observatory issued a Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No 8 for the typhoon, its third-highest, which identifies it as a gale or storm.
Under this signal, members of the public are advised to complete all precautions in their homes, locking all windows and doors and inserting reinforced shutters and gates if they are available.
Cars should be parked in a safe place and people should avoid standing near windows on the exposed side of their homes.
Flights may also be affected by the weather.
Hong Kong Observatory also warned that the weather will "deteriorate rapidly" later on Friday, with heavy squally showers and violent winds expected. It added that it will assess the need to issue higher warning signals around the evening.
Voting at the polling station will open from 8am local time.
"Voters are also advised to vote early to avoid overcrowding, which might occur near to the closing of the poll at 8pm," ELD said.
"For their safety, voters should closely monitor the latest advice from the local authorities before planning to head outdoors."
HONG KONG: China issued its highest typhoon warning on Thursday (Aug 31) as Super Typhoon Saola drew closer to Hong Kong and the mainland's southern coast, with several cities delaying the start of the school year as a precaution.
Saola's wind speeds topped 200kmh by 6pm on Thursday, with the storm around 370km southeast of the Chinese finance hub, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
It will bring "heavy squally showers and violent winds" on Friday, the observatory said, adding that the threat level was expected to be upgraded to "T8" - the city's third-highest - early in the morning.
On the mainland, China issued the most severe warning in its four-tiered system, with the National Meteorological Centre predicting the typhoon would make landfall "somewhere in the coastal areas stretching from Huilai to Hong Kong" by Friday afternoon at the earliest.
But there was also a possibility it could move west and "pass through the waters of eastern Guangdong without making landfall".
Train services have been suspended across Guangdong, state news agency Xinhua said, while various cities in the southern province - including Shantou, Shanwei, Jieyang and Chaozhou - have pushed the start of the academic year to Monday.
Airline Cathay Pacific said it cancelled all flights in and out of Hong Kong between 0600 GMT Friday and 0200 GMT Saturday.
Its subsidiary, budget airline HK Express announced it was cancelling 70 flights in and out of Hong Kong on Friday and Saturday.
Hong Kong Airlines said it had cancelled more than 30 flights and start-up carrier Greater Bay Airlines said it was calling off 12.
Hong Kong's low-lying areas could see "serious flooding", its observatory said, and the storm surge may be similar to that seen during the 2018 Super Typhoon Mangkhut if Saola skirted the south of the territory.
Mangkhut - which triggered Hong Kong's maximum "T10" typhoon alert - caused severe damage to the city and injured more than 300 people.
Saola displaced thousands earlier this week as it passed the northern Philippines but no direct casualties have been reported from it so far.
Authorities in Hong Kong's neighbouring casino hub of Macau said they were eyeing the possibility of issuing its third-highest typhoon warning on Saturday.
Southern China is frequently hit in summer and autumn by typhoons that form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and then travel west.
While they can cause temporary disruption to cities like Hong Kong and Macau, fatalities have become much less common thanks to stronger building codes and better flood management systems.
SOMA: The US envoy to Japan feasted on fish from Fukushima on Thursday (Aug 31), saying that water discharged from the crippled nuclear plant was safer than that "dumped" by Chinese atomic facilities.
China banned all seafood imports from its neighbour last week after Japan began releasing wastewater from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean, accusing Tokyo of treating the ocean like a "sewer".
"Japan over the decade has done exactly the right things in the right way. International scientific rigour, fully transparent, and inviting the international community to monitor their progress cleaning the water," Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said as he visited the area devastated by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear catastrophe.
"Water from this area is safer than (the water which) the four plants in China dumps untreated into the ocean," he said.
The water being released from Fukushima has been filtered of all radioactive elements except tritium, according to plant operator TEPCO.
Emanuel, 63, ate a plateful of raw slices of flounder, tuna and bass at a local restaurant before buying more fish and locally grown peaches from a supermarket.
Thaksin is one of the most influential but divisive figures in modern Thai history.
Loved by millions of rural Thais for his populist policies in the early 2000s, he is reviled by the country's royalist and pro-military establishment, which has spent much of the past two decades trying to keep him and his allies out of power.
Hours after Thaksin landed in Bangkok to a hero's welcome from hundreds of supporters, Pheu Thai's Srettha Thavisin was confirmed as prime minister on Tuesday - the party's first premier since Thaksin's sister Yingluck was thrown out in a coup in 2014.
Just hours after being sent to jail, Thaksin was moved to a police hospital, with prison medical officers saying he needed close monitoring for various health problems, including heart trouble.
Thai media reported that Thaksin had been installed in a private VIP suite on the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital in downtown Bangkok.
A small anti-Thaksin group gathered in Bangkok Thursday afternoon to demand he serve his time.
Before last week Thaksin had not set foot in the kingdom since 2008, living mostly in Dubai to avoid criminal cases he long maintained were politically motivated.
But earlier this year he said he was willing to face justice in order to return home and see his grandchildren.
Parties linked to Thaksin dominated every Thai election since 2001 - until this year, when the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats.
But new PM Srettha's coalition shuts MFP out - while bringing in parties linked to the coup-maker generals who ousted Thaksin and Yingluck.
MFP rode a wave of youth and urban discontent at nearly a decade of military-backed rule to win most seats in the May election.
But the party's push to amend royal defamation laws and tackle business monopolies spooked the kingdom's powerful elite, and leader Pita Limjaroenrat was blocked from becoming prime minister.
MANILA - The Philippines on Thursday joined Malaysia and Indonesia in disputing a new Chinese map claiming the waters off the South-east Asian nations’ coasts, as well as part of the north-east of India.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is rejecting the map issued on Aug 28 by Beijing’s Ministry of Natural Resources.
The new map features a 10-dash line that includes the eastern parts of the disputed South China Sea that falls within Manila’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Philippines officially calls this area the West Philippine Sea.
A 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling has already rejected Beijing’s sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea, which is also being claimed by four Asean countries – the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam – as well as Taiwan. China’s claim has long been represented by a nine-dash line in its map.
The Philippines said Beijing’s latest attempt to legitimise its claim over the country’s features and maritime zones in the disputed waterway has no basis under international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
“The 2016 Arbitral Award invalidated the nine-dashed line. It categorically stated that ‘maritime areas of the South China Sea encompassed by the relevant part of the nine-dash line are contrary to the Convention and without lawful effect to the extent that they exceed the geographic and substantive limits of China’s maritime entitlements under the Convention’,” said the DFA in a statement.
“The Philippines, therefore, calls on China to act responsibly and abide by its obligations under Unclos and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award,” the DFA added.
China’s new map also overlapped with Malaysia’s EEZ off the coast of the Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo island. Malaysia disputed the map on Wednesday, making it the first Asean country to do so.
“Malaysia does not recognise China’s claims in the South China Sea, as outlined in the ‘China Standard Map 2023 Edition’, which covers Malaysia’s maritime area,” the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said.
Kuala Lumpur described the South China Sea issue as “complex and sensitive”, and said the dispute must be “handled peacefully and rationally through dialogue” based on international law.
Malaysia said it supported the creation of a Code of Conduct on the disputed waterway, which South-east Asian nations are currently negotiating.
India, likewise, protested against China’s new map, which is claiming the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau.
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday said China’s claims have no basis.
“Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary in question,” Mr Bagchi said.
Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir on Thursday (Aug 31) said that the country will send a protest note to China following its claim on the South China Sea as outlined in the new map, The Star reported.
This comes after his ministry had earlier said that it does not recognise China's claims in the South China Sea, adding that the map holds no binding authority over Malaysia which marks its Independence Day - or Hari Merdeka - on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Hari Merdeka event, Mr Zambry said that Malaysia’s next course of action following the ministry’s statement was to send a protest note to China.
“That is the practice,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry on Wednesday had said that the map had among other things, displayed China's unilateral maritime claims that encroach upon the country's maritime areas in Sabah and Sarawak.
Bernama reported that the ministry stressed that Malaysia consistently rejects any foreign party's claims to sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over maritime features or maritime areas based on the 1979 Malaysia New Map.
“Malaysia also views the South China Sea issue as a complex and sensitive matter,” it reportedly said.
It also underscored the need for the issue to be managed peacefully and rationally through dialogue and negotiations based on provisions of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
"Malaysia remains committed to cooperating to ensure all parties implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea comprehensively and effectively,” said Malaysia’s foreign ministry.
"Malaysia is also committed to the effective and substantive negotiations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, with the goal of finalising the COC as soon as possible.”
INDONESIA’S RESPONSE
China and ASEAN had reached an agreement on guidelines to speed up negotiations of the COC during a meeting of their foreign ministers in Jakarta on July 13.
Indonesia, which is not a claimant-state, has not yet issued an official response over China’s map that claims territory over the Natuna islet cluster that falls within its 200-nautical-mile EEZ.
But it is also claimed by Beijing within its nine-dash line over the South China Sea, a crucial waterway vital to international shipping lanes and an area of increasing contestation between China and the US.
According to BBC News Indonesia, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently looking for "the truth of the news" regarding the new map.
"We are currently asking for information from the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing on the veracity of the news," foreign ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah reportedly said on Wednesday.
When asked whether Indonesia would protest like India did, he said that the authorities are "waiting for input from the Indonesian Embassy first".
BEIJING: China issued the highest typhoon warning on Thursday (Aug 31) as Typhoon Saola crawled closer to the southeastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in neighbouring Guangdong province.
Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6am. China's National Meteorological Center said Saola, currently located about 295km southeast of Guangdong province, will move northwest across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10kmh, gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weakening in intensity.
Wind speeds at 9am were clocked at 209 kmh.
Saola will make landfall along the coast somewhere from Huilai County in Guangdong to Hong Kong on the afternoon to the night of Sep 1, the centre said.
China Railway has suspended several major train lines and Shanghai halted trains heading to Guangdong, according to local media.
As Saola edges closer to Guangdong, winds over the region will strengthen gradually, the Hong Kong Observatory said, noting that it will raise its strong wind Signal to No. 3 - the second lowest - later Thursday.
Saola will also bring storm surges to coastal low-lying areas, the Hong Kong Observatory noted, estimating Saola is currently about 440km from the metropolis.
Until 8am Friday there will be heavy rainfall in parts of Fujian and areas of Guangdong. Downpours could be 100mm to 220mm in some areas.
Saola's winds are also affecting Fujian province, where videos on social media showed waves crashing along the coastline. The meteorological administration of Shishi City issued a typhoon blue warning.
BANGKOK: Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is preparing documentation to draft a request for a royal pardon, but when it would be submitted was at his discretion, his lawyer said on Wednesday (Aug 30).
Thaksin returned to Thailand in a vaunted homecoming last week after spending 15 years abroad in self-exile. After landing in a private jet, he was transferred to prison to serve an eight-year sentence on charges of abuse of power and conflict of interest remnant from his days in power.
Hours after his arrival, Srettha Thavisin of the Shinawatra family-backed Pheu Thai party sailed through a parliamentary vote to become prime minister, fuelling speculation that Thaksin had struck a deal with his former enemies among the country's conservative and royalist military that ousted his government in 2006 and 2014.
Thaksin and the Pheu Thai party have denied this.
During his first night in Thailand, he was moved to a police hospital with chest pains and high blood pressure.
On Wednesday his lawyer Winyat Chartmontri told Reuters the former prime minister was preparing a request for a royal pardon.
"Thaksin is proceeding on his own and is currently in the preparatory stages of documentation and drafting the request," Winyat said, adding the legal team has not seen the request.
The timing of when the request will be submitted will be at Thaksin's own discretion, said Winyat.
Despite being away for 15 years, Thaksin still towers over Thai politics, known for populist policies like universal healthcare and cash handouts. Parties loyal to him have won every election in the last 20 years until 2023.
Anti-Thaksin groups have petitioned the corrections department to block any attempt to seek a pardon, citing that corruption cases should not receive clemency.
SINGAPORE - The Tampines Town Council is looking for a man who illegally chopped down a tree at an HDB housing estate at Tampines Street 62.
The town council had put up notices at the GreenDew estate, a new Build-to-Order (BTO) project in Tampines, on Aug 24, urging those with information on the culprit to come forward.
The notices carry a picture of a man taking what looks like a chopper to young saplings at the estate.
The town council told The Straits Times that one tree has been chopped down, while two others have been damaged, although it was not able to confirm if the same culprit was responsible.
A town council spokesman told The Straits Times that it was informed on Aug 23 that a resident was “seen chopping a tree” near Block 648C Tampines Street 62.
The Straits Times visited the site and saw two crudely hacked trees in front of the lift lobby of Block 648C. One felled tree was lying on a side.
“We are working with HDB to investigate the matter and have posted notices in the vicinity, seeking residents’ assistance in identifying the responsible party,” said the town council spokesman.
He added that the town council was taking the incident seriously and warned that damaging or removing plants, shrubs or trees in common areas is a violation of town council by-laws.
“We have reported the incident to the police, and appropriate action will be taken against the offender,” he said.
Those fears have been compounded this year by a broad crackdown on US consulting firms operating in China.
A new anti-espionage law, which came into force on Jul 1, has also spooked foreign and domestic firms as they try to decipher authorities' intentions and, crucially, pinpoint what is off-limits.
In a Tuesday meeting with Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing, Raimondo raised what Washington sees as unfair trade practices by China, according to a US Department of Commerce readout.
She also emphasised the "importance of strengthening the protection of trade secrets for US businesses operating in China".
The commerce secretary is one of a number of senior US officials to visit China in recent months - part of an effort by Washington to improve its working relationship with its largest strategic rival.
Raimondo has used the trip to seek more open discussions with the Chinese over restrictive trade curbs and the two sides have agreed to set up a working group to iron out the laundry list of trade disputes between them.
SINGAPORE - Five agreements to boost business ties were signed between Singaporean and African companies at the seventh edition of the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) on Tuesday.
The new deals add to a lengthening list of recently concluded agreements between Singapore brand owners and their African counterparts who are seeking opportunities in manufacturing, digitalisation and technology, sustainable development, transport, and logistics.
First launched in 2010 on a biennial basis, the ASBF serves as a key platform for Singapore and African business leaders and government officials to discuss trade and investment opportunities. The forum has brought together more than 5,000 thought leaders from 40 countries.
According to Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the Republic’s bilateral trade in goods with the continent has grown by about 15 per cent every year between 2019 and 2022, reaching $19.4 billion in 2022. Singapore companies’ investments in the African continent had cumulatively reached $32.1 billion as at 2021.
Mr Tan Soon Kim, EnterpriseSG’s deputy chief executive officer for global markets, said: “Singapore companies are recognising the value of diversifying their businesses to markets farther afield and have been responding to our call to explore Africa.”
In his keynote address, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said: “Today, there are about 100 Singapore companies present in 40 countries in Africa.”
Africa comprises 54 countries, with a total population of 1.4 billion people.
Companies have invested in various sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, agri-commodities and urban solutions, as well as exploring potential in digitalisation and sustainability.
“I encourage more Singapore companies to seek out business and investment opportunities in Africa,” said Mr Gan.
Singapore is also in the process of negotiating new pacts to improve connectivity with African nations – both on a bilateral basis and with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
On Aug 20, the Kenya-Singapore Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement entered into force.
Mr Gan said such agreements provide certainty to companies from both Africa and Singapore that operate in each other’s markets, thus boosting trade and investment flows between both sides.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry will also offer a capacity-building course in trade negotiations as part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme’s Singapore-Africa Partnership Package.
Mr Gan said the course will start in January 2024 and is designed to meet the needs of African trade negotiators, even as it helps to foster stronger relations between the governments as well as officials.
Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan will take "necessary action (on China's aquatic product ban) under various routes including the WTO framework".
Filing a WTO complaint might become an option if protesting to China through diplomatic routes is ineffective, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi said separately.
Japan's National Policy Agency has received 225 reports of harassment calls to date, Jiji news reported, and the government said it was seeking help from telecommunications companies to block the calls.
An increasing number of landline phone users are requesting to block foreign numbers, said a spokesperson at NTT Communications, a Nippon Telegraph and Telephone unit. NTT and other phone companies including KDDI and SoftBank Corp are discussing measures following the government’s request.
"It is extremely regrettable and concerning about the large number of harassment calls that have likely come from China," Trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said during a news conference. He said that according to the people of Fukushima some calls were even going to hospitals, .
"Human life is at stake now. Please stop the calls immediately,” Nishimura said.
The minister said the government is gathering information on the reports of movements to boycott Japanese products in China and would work with business leaders to address the situation.
But Wang warned they "run counter to market rules and the principle of fair competition, and will only harm the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chains".
Raimondo is set to meet with vice premier He Lifeng and culture minister Hu Heping on Tuesday, and pay a courtesy visit to Premier Li Qiang.
She will then head to China's economic powerhouse Shanghai, before leaving the country on Wednesday.
HEALTHY COMPETITION
Raimondo is one of a number of senior US officials to visit China in recent months - part of an effort by Washington to improve its working relationship with its largest strategic rival.
Relations between the two countries have plummeted to some of their lowest levels in decades, with US trade curbs near the top of the list of disagreements.
This month, Biden issued an executive order aimed at restricting certain US investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China - a move Beijing blasted as being "anti-globalisation".
The long-anticipated rules, expected to be implemented next year, target sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought to reassure Chinese officials about the expected curbs during a visit to Beijing last month.
And Raimondo on Monday told Chinese officials that while there was "no room to compromise or negotiate" on US national security, "the vast majority of our trade and investment relationship does not involve national security concerns".
"We seek healthy competition with China. A growing Chinese economy that plays by the rules is in both of our interests," she said.
In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Beijing, where he met President Xi Jinping and said progress had been made on a number of key sources of contention. US climate envoy John Kerry also visited China in July.
"We would like to urge the Chinese government again to take appropriate measures immediately, such as calling on its citizens to act calmly to prevent the situation from escalating, and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese residents and our diplomatic missions in China," he said.
He added that China should "provide accurate information" about the Fukushima water release "rather than unnecessarily raising people's concerns by providing information without any scientific basis".
In Beijing, a spokesperson at the Japanese embassy told AFP that staff were "extremely worried".
"Some individuals have come to our (embassy) entrance," the spokesperson said.
"They took these kinds of actions then were led away by armed police."
Asked what action Beijing would take over the stone-throwing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday that China "always protects the safety and legitimate rights and interests of foreigners in China, in accordance with law".
"We strongly urge the Japanese side to face up to the legitimate concerns of all parties, immediately stop the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, fully consult with its neighbours and other stakeholders, and earnestly dispose of nuclear-contaminated water in a responsible manner," Wang told a regular briefing.
HONG KONG: A county in eastern China is offering couples a "reward" of 1,000 yuan (US$137) if the bride is aged 25 or younger, the latest measure to incentivise young people to get married amid rising concern over a declining birth rate.
The notice, which was published on Changshan county's official WeChat account last week, said the reward was to promote "age-appropriate marriage and childbearing" for first marriages. It also included a series of childcare, fertility and education subsidies for couples who have children.
Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades and its rapidly ageing population, authorities are urgently trying an array of measures to lift the birth rate including financial incentives and improved childcare facilities.
China's legal age limit for marriage is 22 for males and 20 for females, but the number of couples getting married has been falling. That has driven down birth rates due to official policies which make it harder for single women to have children.
Marriage rates hit a record low in 2022 at 6.8 million, the lowest since 1986, according to government data released in June. There were 800,000 fewer marriages last year than in 2021.
The mother of embattled Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales has locked herself in a church and said she is on hunger strike in protest at her son's treatment, Rubiales' cousin confirmed on Monday.
Ángeles Béjar shut herself inside the church of the Divine Shepherdess in Rubiales' hometown of Motril, Andalusia, on Monday, EFE reported.
She said her protest would continue until the "inhuman, bloodthirsty witch hunt which my son is being subjected to" came to an end.
Rubiales was handed a provisional 90-day suspension from all football-related activities by FIFA on Friday -- while Spain's Supreme Sports Council is also seeking to have him removed from office -- over his behaviour after Spain's Women's World Cup final win, including his unsolicited kiss on Spain player Jenni Hermoso.
Rubiales has refused to resign over the issue, insisting that the kiss was consensual -- a claim denied by the player -- and threatening legal action against Hermoso and her union, Futpro.
Spain prosecutors said they have opened a preliminary sexual abuse investigation into the incident.
Béjar told EFE her protest would continue "indefinitely, day and night" until Rubiales was vindicated.
She added: "There is no sexual abuse since there is consent on both sides, as the images prove. ... My son is incapable of hurting anyone."
The news agency reported that she had locked herself inside the church in Motril -- a town with a population of around 60,000, in the province of Granada -- with her sister, after its priest had left.
Rubiales' cousin, Vanessa Ruiz Béjar, confirmed to Teledeporte that his mother was on hunger strike, saying: "This is very hard. To say that there is a harassment is not fair.
"That his mom, who is a person of great faith, has taken refuge in God and is on a hunger strike and does not want to leave the church. That his family is suffering very much on his behalf. It is not fair what is happening.
"He has been judged ahead of time and he should be left in peace. We want Jenni to tell the truth. Why has she changed her story three times? Our family has been harassed. This woman should tell the truth. Jenni, you should tell the truth. We want Jenni to tell the truth.
"The way they are treating with him, the aggression, the feminists, the television, it seems to me shameful. All the people who are taking advantage of the situation, it is shameful."
A friendly football match dubbed the "Friends of Rubiales" that was supposed to take place in Motril and feature the RFEF president was canceled on Saturday, with the local town hall citing fears over public order.
Rubiales' conduct and subsequent refusal to accept responsibility for his actions have drawn widespread condemnation -- both within Spain and internationally from football clubs, players and politicians.
Spain's Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz said on Monday that male chauvinism was "systemic" in the country and had been shown in its worst form.
Díaz, who is also deputy prime minister and head of the far-left Sumar coalition, called for social attitudes to change more generally in Spain and for victims of sexual harassment and violence to be better protected.
On Monday, the RFEF asked UEFA to suspend it from international competitions because of government interference over demands to remove Rubiales.
Football governing bodies have long-standing rules barring national governments from interfering with the running of the domestic federations. However, UEFA will not comply with the Spanish federation's request for a sanction, a person familiar with the issue told The Associated Press on Monday.
The move was widely seen as an attempt to silence some of Rubiales' critics, including government ministers who have asked for his removal, as such a suspension would ban Spanish teams from competitions like the Champions League and could sway public opinion in favor of letting him keep his job.
TOKYO: Japan said on Monday (Aug 28) it was extremely regrettable that there were many instances of harassing phone calls from China regarding the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific.
Japan started the water discharge on Thursday in a key step toward decommissioning the Fukushima plant, which suffered triple meltdowns after being hit by a tsunami in 2011 following a powerful earthquake. China strongly opposes the move.
"A lot of harassment phone calls believed to be originating from China are occurring in Japan ... These developments are extremely regrettable and we are concerned," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief government spokesman, told a regular news conference.
Such calls prompted vice foreign minister Masataka Okano to summon the Chinese ambassador, Japan's foreign ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said the calls were also occurring at Japanese facilities in China and urged the government to take appropriate action promptly and ensure the safety of Japanese citizens.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Fukushima city hall started receiving calls with country code 86, which is for China, on Thursday, and the number of such calls exceeded 200 the following day, flooding phone lines and disrupting city employees' ordinary work, a city official said.
On the same day, elementary and junior high schools in the city, 60km north-west of the crippled plant, received 65 similar calls, he said.
When a person who understands Chinese took one of those calls, the caller made a comment to the effect that, "Why are you releasing tainted water into the Pacific Ocean, which is a sea for everyone," the official said.
Other municipalities, hotels and restaurants have also been getting such calls since the day the water release began, domestic media said.
In China, a rock was thrown at a Japanese school in the coastal city of Qingdao on Thursday, according to the Consulate-General of Japan in the city.
"We have been speaking to the city police constantly since this incident took place regarding security concerns," the Consulate-General told Reuters on Monday.
Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has been filtering the contaminated water to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate.
Tepco dilutes the water until tritium levels fall below regulatory limits before pumping it into the sea.
China, however, said the Japanese government had not proved that the water discharged would be safe and issued a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan hours after Tokyo went ahead with the release.
FUKUSHIMA – Japan wants to win the world’s trust that it is doing the right thing – neither wilfully poisoning the Pacific Ocean nor trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes regarding the safety of its seafood with its treated nuclear wastewater release.
On Sunday, The Straits Times was among the first media outlets – domestic and foreign – to visit the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since the discharge began three days earlier, in a process that will end with its full decommissioning only in 2051.
As at 5pm on Sunday (4pm Singapore time), 76 hours after the gates were opened, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) had released 1,420 tonnes of water that had been treated to remove radioactive materials except tritium.
Tepco has even successfully used the water, cleansed by a process known as the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), to breed healthy flounder, abalone and seaweed.
Yet, the blowback has been swift since the discharge began. China imposed a blanket ban on all Japanese seafood, while Hong Kong and Macau stiffened restrictions in what Japanese newspaper editorials have lambasted as “economic coercion”.
These regions are a minority, among only nine to have retained import restrictions since the March 11, 2011 disaster. But they hit Japan where it hurts: China accounted for 22.5 per cent and Hong Kong, 19.5 per cent, of seafood imports in 2022, the annual Fisheries White Paper said.
To counter these narratives, United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who is due to visit Fukushima this week, said he would “eat local fish” – just as the late prime minister Shinzo Abe made Fukushima rice a daily staple to prove a point.
Amid the brouhaha, water was being discharged as planned at Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi plant – a drab coastal compound of six nuclear reactors – on Sunday, with the audible sounds of seawater gushing in through large pipes to be used for dilution. Much has changed since this reporter’s last visit in 2018, with more than 1,000 giant water tanks now dotting the site.
In total, 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater has accumulated, and the pressing lack of space has been a major obstacle to dismantling the plant. Just 380 of the 1,000 cherry blossoms trees that turn the facility pink in spring remain, the rest axed over contamination and the need to make space for tanks.
In the clearest sign that decontamination was progressing, protective gowns were no longer necessary over clothing, though masks and gloves were mandatory. The radiation dose during the six-hour media visit, as per the reading on my dosimeter, was less than that one would have received during a dental X-ray, according to Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology.
Yet Japan and Tepco, despite sound scientific evidence in their favour as endorsed by the neutral International Atomic Energy Agency, are struggling to shape the narrative, dampen the water-cooler talk and stamp out fake news.
MOSCOW – Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Sunday the results of genetic tests confirmed the identities of the 10 people who died in a plane crash last Wednesday, and that they included Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia’s aviation agency previously published the names of all 10 people on board the private jet that crashed in the Tver region north-west of Moscow. They included Mr Prigozhin and Mr Dmitry Utkin, his right-hand man who helped found the Wagner group.
“As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” the investigative committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to their results, the identities of all 10 victims were established, they correspond to the list stated in the flight list,” the committee added.
Western politicians and commentators have suggested, without presenting evidence, that the plane appeared to have been downed on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as revenge for Mr Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny two months ago.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such suggestions were an “absolute lie”.
Mr Prigozhin had sent a column of mercenaries towards Moscow in an attempt to oust the leadership of the Defence Ministry.
Mr Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Mr Prigozhin at the Kremlin.
He sent his condolences last Thursday to the families of those the aviation agency said died in the crash.
Asked whether Mr Putin might attend Mr Prigozhin’s funeral, Mr Peskov said it was too early to say and also noted the President’s “busy schedule”.
Wagner fighters played a prominent role in the fighting in eastern Ukraine, especially in the months-long siege of the city of Bakhmut, despite Mr Prigozhin’s frequent, profanity-laced attacks on Russia’s military high command over their conduct of the war that culminated in the failed mutiny.
The Wagner fighters have now left Ukraine, and some have relocated to neighbouring Belarus under the terms of a deal that ended their mutiny.
Some are expected to be absorbed into Russia’s armed forces, but many will be angry over the sudden demise of the group’s founder, who inspired a high degree of loyalty among his men.
Mr Putin paid a mixed tribute to Mr Prigozhin on Thursday, describing him as a “talented businessman” but also as a flawed character who “made serious mistakes in life”.
However, his comments did little to stem rising questions and anger over Mr Prigozhin’s death, with makeshift memorials to the mercenary leader springing up across Russian cities.
“He was killed,” said one man outside a makeshift memorial in Moscow.
“He was killed by his enemies. We won’t say who. The investigation will reveal. But we hope that revenge will catch up with those who committed this crime,” he added. REUTERS, AFP
BANGKOK: Myanmar's junta on Sunday (Aug 27) ordered the expulsion of Timor-Leste's top diplomat in the country over a meeting his government held with a banned shadow administration.
The military has designated the shadow administration known as the National Unity Government (NUG) - dominated by exiled lawmakers working overseas to overturn the coup - as a terror organisation.
Last month, Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta met with NUG foreign minister Zin Mar Aung in the capital Dili.
On Sunday, Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the "irresponsible actions" of Timor-Leste, ordering the country's Charge d'Affaires in Yangon "to leave no later than Sep 1, 2023".
The ministry said in a Facebook post that Timor-Leste was "encouraging the terrorist group to further committing their violations in Myanmar".
Timor-Leste condemned the expulsion order, reiterating in a statement "the importance of supporting all efforts for the return of democratic order in Myanmar".
Dili also urged the junta to "respect human rights and seek a peaceful and constructive solution to the crisis".
Tokyo's embassy in Beijing has separately urged its nationals there to refrain from speaking loudly in Japanese.
A Fukushima businessperson told the Kyodo news agency that his four restaurants and pastry shops received a total of about 1,000 calls on Friday, mostly from China.
His businesses had to unplug their phones, Kyodo said.
Fukushima city mayor Hiroshi Kohata said in a Facebook post Saturday that the city hall had received around 200 similar calls in two days, while local schools, restaurants and hotels also became targets.
"I will report this to the Japanese government and demand action," he wrote in his post.
Chinese social media users shared videos of themselves making calls to Japanese numbers, including restaurants in Fukushima.
TEPCO is releasing more than 500 Olympic swimming pools' worth of wastewater used to cool Fukushima's damaged reactors, three of which went into meltdown in March 2011 when they were hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed about 18,000 people.
The water has been filtered of all radioactive elements except for tritium.
The Japanese environment ministry said Sunday that a fresh test of Fukushima coastal water showed no elevated levels of tritium.
The ministry added that the water samples did not show signs of gamma radiation that can come from other radioactive materials such as caesium.
WILL THE WASTEWATER RELEASE PUSH DECOMMISSIONING FORWARD?
Not right away, because the water release is slow and the decommissioning is making little progress. TEPCO says it plans to release 31,200 tonnes of treated water by the end of March 2024, which would empty only 10 tanks out of 1,000 because of the continued production of wastewater at the plant.
The pace will later pick up, and about one-third of the tanks will be removed over the next 10 years, freeing up space for the plant's decommissioning, said TEPCO executive Junichi Matsumoto, who is in charge of the treated water release.
He says the water would be released gradually over the span of 30 years, but as long as the melted fuel stays in the reactors, it requires cooling water, which creates more wastewater.
Emptied tanks also need to be scrapped for storage. Highly radioactive sludge, a byproduct of filtering at the treatment machine, also is a concern.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE AHEAD?
About 880 tonnes of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the reactors. Robotic probes have provided some information but the status of the melted debris remains largely unknown.
Earlier this year, a remote-controlled underwater vehicle successfully collected a tiny sample from inside Unit 1’s reactor — only a spoonful of the melted fuel debris in the three reactors. That’s 10 times the amount of damaged fuel removed at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island cleanup following its 1979 partial core melt.
Trial removal of melted debris using a giant remote-controlled robotic arm will begin in Unit 2 later this year after a nearly two-year delay. Spent fuel removal from Unit 1 reactor’s cooling pool is set to start in 2027 after a 10-year delay. Once all the spent fuel is removed, the focus will turn in 2031 to taking melted debris out of the reactors. But debris removal methods for two other reactors have not been decided.
Matsumoto says “technical difficulty involving the decommissioning is much higher” than the water release and involves higher risks of exposures by plant workers to remove spent fuel or melted fuel.
“Measures to reduce radiation exposure risks by plant workers will be increasingly difficult,” Matsumoto said. “Reduction of exposure risks is the basis for achieving both Fukushima's recovery and decommissioning.”
MADRID: Football's world governing body FIFA suspended Spanish federation chief Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities for three months on Saturday (Aug 26) as it investigates allegations he gave a player an unwanted kiss on the lips after Spain's women won the World Cup.
FIFA had opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales two days ago over the incident with player Jenni Hermoso last Sunday in Sydney that has caused an uproar among players and fans. Rubiales' suspension from national and international activities takes immediate effect, it said on Saturday.
Rubiales said he would use the probe to show his innocence.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) issued a statement for him, saying Rubiales "will defend himself legally in the competent bodies, has full confidence in the FIFA bodies and reiterates that, in this way, he is being given the opportunity to begin his defence so that the truth prevails and his complete innocence is proven".
Rubiales, 46, has been defiant over the kiss - which has been condemned as unwanted by Hermoso, her team mates and the Spanish government - arguing it was consensual.
Earlier on Saturday the RFEF had said it would stick by Rubiales as he sought to stay on, but a federation spokesperson said after the FIFA announcement that "We respect all the pronouncements of FIFA".
Gary Lineker, a former England and Barcelona player, summed up much of the public reaction to the FIFA move, posting in Spanish on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Por fin! (At last)."
Rubiales played mainly in Spain's second division in a career spanning 12 years. When he was elected to lead the RFEF in 2018, he promised to modernise its structure, increase turnover and make the federation more transparent.
Feminist groups staged demonstrations in Madrid, Santander and Logrono on Saturday calling for his resignation.
At a federation meeting on Friday where he had been widely expected to resign, Rubiales insteady refused to quit, seeking to defend his behaviour and calling the kiss "spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual".
Hermoso said she did not consent to the kiss and felt "vulnerable and the victim of an aggression".
In a statement hours before FIFA's move on Saturday, the federation said it would show there had been lies told about what happened by Hermoso or people speaking for her and that it would "initiate the corresponding legal actions" to defend Rubiales' honour, without specifying what that would entail.
The Spanish government cannot fire Rubiales but has strongly denounced his actions and said on Friday it was seeking to get him suspended using a legal procedure before a sports tribunal.
FIFA has provisionally suspended Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), from all football-related activities for 90 days following his unsolicited kiss of Jenni Hermoso after the Women's World Cup final.
Despite growing pressure throughout the week, including FIFA opening disciplinary proceedings Thursday, Rubiales refused to resign Friday, saying the kiss was "mutual and with consent."
Pachuca forward Hermoso replied in a statement later in the day, disputing Rubiales' version of events and saying she "felt vulnerable and the victim of aggression, an impulsive, sexist act which was out of place and with no consent on my behalf."
FIFA, world football's governing body, said Saturday: "The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, Jorge Ivan Palacio (Colombia), in use of the powers granted by article 51 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr. Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level.
"This suspension, which will be effective as of today, is for an initial period of 90 days, pending the disciplinary proceedings opened against Mr. Luis Rubiales on Thursday, Aug. 24.
"Likewise, the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and in order to preserve, among other factors, the fundamental rights of the national team player Ms. Jennifer Hermoso and the good order of the disciplinary proceedings before this disciplinary body, has issued two additional directives (article 7 FDC) by which he orders Mr. Luis Rubiales to refrain, through himself or third parties, from contacting or attempting to contact the professional player of the Spanish national football team Ms. Jennifer Hermoso or her close environment.
"Likewise, the RFEF and its officials or employees, directly or through third parties, are ordered to refrain from contacting the professional player of the Spanish national team Ms. Jennifer Hermoso and her close environment."
UEFA, which oversees football in Europe, has yet to respond to ESPN's requests for a comment on the situation. Rubiales sits on UEFA's executive committee and is one of the body's vice presidents.
In a statement through the federation, Rubiales said: "Luis Rubiales has stated that he will legally defend himself in the competent bodies, he fully trusts FIFA and reiterates that, in this way, he is given the opportunity to begin his defence so that the truth prevails and his complete innocence is proven."
Later on Saturday, the RFEF released another statement in reply to Hermoso's, accusing her of changing her original version of events.
"The facts are what they are and, no matter how many statement you put out to distort reality, it is impossible to change what happened," the statement read.
"The peck was with consent. Consent is given at the moment with the conditions of the moment. Afterwards you can think that you have made a mistake, but you cannot change the reality."
It follows a week of controversy, criticism and widespread condemnation of Rubiales' behaviour after Spain's World Cup win over England in Sydney.
As well as kissing Hermoso, Rubiales was also seen effusively hugging other members of the Spanish national team and kissing them on the cheek.
Before that, immediately following Spain's confirmation as World Cup champions, Rubiales was seen grabbing his crotch in a victory gesture, with 16-year-old Infanta Sofia and Queen Letizia of Spain standing nearby.
Everything accelerated on Friday when Rubiales announced he would not resign in a remarkable 30-minute speech, which was applauded by those present at the RFEF's headquarters.
Following his intervention, Spain's government started legal proceedings seeking to "suspend him from his functions."
Later, all 23 players who won the World Cup with Spain, in addition to more than 50 other players, denounced Rubiales' "bewildering speech" and said they "will not return to the national team if the current leaders continue."
In a separate statement, Hermoso then called Rubiales' version of events "false," said his behaviour constituted an "aggressive, sexist act" and added that the RFEF had put pressure on her and others to make public comments to calm things down.
Following that, six members of coach Jorge Vilda's staff stepped down on Saturday with a further five coaches who work with the country's youth teams also announcing their resignations.
Vilda said later on Saturday that he regretted the "inappropriate behaviour" of Rubiales.
The fallout has dominated headlines in Spain and was the focus of Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez's news conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Villarreal.
"Before taking questions, I just want to comment on the situation," Xavi said. "Firstly, I want to offer my unconditional support for Jenni and players in the women's game.
"Secondly, I want to condemn the behaviour of the RFEF president, which was totally unacceptable. And, thirdly, I want to express sadness that it has taken away from a historic World Cup win."
However, Xavi grew irritated as he was asked multiple times about the matter, with the press officer eventually requesting that journalists focus on other questions.
"That's seven questions now," Xavi said. "It's a shame we're not talking about Cata Coll, Aitana Bonmatí, Alexia Putellas and the hurdles they have overcome.
"We are talking about unacceptable conduct [instead]. I like how the team bounced back after losing to Japan, how they suffered in the semifinal to make the final. We have to put value on the players."
Rubiales has been a controversial figure throughout his tenure as head of Spanish football's governing body.
The RFEF also faced criticism over its handling of the complaints of 15 Spain women's national team players over Vilda and the federation's support for the team.
Rubiales' response was to back Vilda. Three of the 15 featured at the World Cup after some changes were made, while seven refused to participate and five were not selected.
Information from Reuters was included in this report.
MOSCOW : Russia hopes to increase its marine product exports to China in the wake of China's ban on Japanese seafood imports after the release of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
Russia is one of the biggest marine product suppliers to China, with 894 Russian companies allowed to export seafood, Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian food safety watchdog, said in July.
In a statement late on Friday (Aug 26), Rosselkhoznadzor said it was seeking to increase the number of exporters.
"The Chinese market in general is promising for Russian fish products. We hope to increase the number of certified Russian companies and ships, the volume of products and its range," the Rosselkhoznadzor statement said.
To aid that effort, Rosselkhoznadzor plans to continue dialogue with China on seafood safety issues and finish negotiations with China on regulations for Russian marine products supply to the country, the statement said.
China has already banned some food imports from Japan but Thursday's total ban was prompted by concerns about the "risk of radioactive contamination" after it started releasing the treated water.
China was the destination for over a half of Russian aquatic products exports between January and August, the statement said without providing figures, dominated by pollock, herring, flounder, sardine, cod and crab.
Russia exported 2.3 million metric tons of marine products last year worth about US$6.1 billion, around half of its overall catch, with China, South Korea and Japan being the biggest importers, according to Russia's fisheries agency.
Japan said criticism from Russia and China was unsupported by scientific evidence and pollution levels in the water will be below those considered safe for drinking under World Health Organization standards.
Still, Rosselkhoznadzor said it has tightened the screening of Japan seafood imports, though the volumes are insignificant.
The regulator also said the direction of currents in the Russian Far East, where about 70 per cent of Russia's seafood is caught, "would prevent contamination" of marine products caught by Russian ships.
It has also tightened the radiological control of seafood caught in Russian waters which are relatively close to Fukushima and would test selected samples for radiation levels, Interfax reported on Thursday, citing Rosselkhoznadzor's Pacific office.
All 23 players of Spain's World Cup-winning squad have said they will not play for their country again as long as Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales remains in charge.
Forward Jenni Hermoso released a joint statement via her union FUTPRO on Friday in which she denied Rubiales' claim that she consented to his kiss during Spain's World Cup final celebrations.
The statement, co-signed by Spain's entire World Cup squad and 58 former players, added that they would not return to play for the national team while Rubiales remains in his position.
It follows a week of controversy, criticism and widespread condemnation of Rubiales' behaviour after Spain's World Cup win in Sydney.
Earlier Friday, Rubiales said calls for him to step down were a campaign of "social assassination" by "false feminists" during a speech to the RFEF's general assembly in which he refused to resign.
"I want to clarify, as you can see in the images, that at no time did I consent to the kiss that he gave me," Hermoso said. "I won't tolerate that my word is called into question, and even less so that words are invented which I didn't say."
Hermoso and her teammates called for "real change to help the national team to keep growing, to be able to bring this great success to the generations to come" and said they would not play for Spain while "the current management" remains at the RFEF.
The president of Spain's Sports Council (CSD) and its secretary of state for sport, Victor Francos, has confirmed that the CSD is seeking to remove Rubiales by bringing a complaint to the country's Administrative Sports Court (TAD).
"This assembly, far from resolving the situation, increased the controversy," Francos said. "The explanations given [by Rubiales] aren't sufficient. The CSD today begins the procedure to suspend Luis Rubiales immediately from the RFEF presidency. ... As the person responsible for Spanish sport I have to apologise to the players. They didn't deserve this this week.
"Neither the CSD nor its president can remove [Rubiales]. I can't sack anybody. But we can take the case to TAD if we believe a serious offence has been committed, and TAD can approve it or not."
In a separate statement posted later on social media, Hermoso again refuted Rubiales' claims.
"I didn't want to interfere in the multiple ongoing legal processes, but I feel obliged to state that the words of Luis Rubiales explaining the unfortunate incident are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture he himself has created," she posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"I clarify that at no time did the conversation occur which Luis Rubiales referred to, and his kiss was not consensual. In the same way, I want to repeat, as I did at the time, that the incident was not to my liking.
"The situation was a shock for me, in the context of the celebration, and with the passing of time and analysing in more detail those initial feelings, I feel the need to denounce this act as I believe no person in their work, sporting or social environment should be the victim of this kind of nonconsensual behaviour. I felt vulnerable and the victim of aggression, an impulsive, sexist act which was out of place and with no consent on my behalf."
She went on to accuse the RFEF of pressuring her and her loved ones to help justify Rubiales' actions.
"I was asked to make a joint statement to reduce the pressure on the president, but at that time my mind was only on enjoying the historic achievement together with my teammates. That's why I told the RFEF, as well as the media and people close to me, that I didn't want to make any kind of individual or collective statement on this matter.
"Despite my decision, I must say that I have felt under continuous pressure to come out with a statement which could justify Luis Rubiales' actions. Not only that, but in different ways and via different people the RFEF has put pressure on my family, friends and teammates to provide testimony which had little or nothing to do with my feelings."
Late Friday, the RFEF refuted parts of Hermoso's statement and said the federation and Rubiales will seek "as many legal actions as may correspond in defense of the honorability of the president."
Rubiales had been widely expected to announce his resignation Friday, but instead he used his platform at the federation's assembly to attempt to justify his actions and attack his critics.
A series of statements condemning his response followed from Spanish clubs, players, politicians and governing bodies.
"Everybody saw what happened," defender Irene Paredeswrote. "You [Hermoso] are the victim. I'm with you, friend."
Real Betis forward Borja Iglesias said he would not consider playing for the Spain men's national team until the situation is resolved.
Condemnation also came from players outside Spain.
"I'm disgusted by the public actions of Luis Rubiales," U.S. women's national team star Alex Morganwrote on X. "I stand by @Jennihermoso and the Spanish players. Winning a World Cup should be one of the best moments in these players' lives but instead it's overshadowed by assault, misogyny, and failures by the Spanish federation."
The U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement that "no player should ever be subjected to what Jenni Hermoso endured, and we're fully supportive of FIFA's disciplinary proceedings. Player safety should be the highest priority, and we call on everyone in the global soccer community to affirm this fundamental right."
England's players, beaten by Spain in the final, decried Rubiales' "unacceptable actions allowed to happen by a sexist and patriarchal organisation."
"The behaviour of those who think they are invincible must not be tolerated and people shouldn't take any convincing to take action against any form of harassment," a statement from the Lionesses added.
