Russia signals retreat in southern Ukraine but Kyiv fears trap - CNA

KYIV: A Russian-installed official in southern Ukraine said Moscow will likely pull its troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson and also urged civilians to leave, perhaps signalling a retreat that would be a blow to Russia's war.

There was silence from senior officials in Moscow. The Kyiv government and Western military analysts remained cautious, suggesting Russia could be setting a trap for advancing Ukrainian troops.

"Most likely our units, our soldiers, will leave for the left (eastern) bank," Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy civilian administrator of the Kherson region, said in an interview on Thursday with Solovyov Live, a pro-Kremlin online media outlet.

The area includes Kherson city, capital of the region of the same name, and the only major city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. It also includes one side of a dam across the Dnipro which controls the water supply to irrigate Crimea, the peninsula Russia has occupied since 2014.

Previously, Russia had denied its forces were planning to withdraw from the area.

In lengthy comments on Thursday night on a programme organised by RT television, Stremousov was somewhat more equivocal, saying "we have to take some very difficult decisions now. Whatever our strategy might be. And some people might be afraid to recognise things.

"But for me it is very important to try to say at the moment - People, please go over to the east bank. You will be in a far safer position," Stremousov said.

At another point, Stremousov said he hoped "that we will not leave Kherson" and if that were to happen, "it will be a big blow not only in terms of the image of us all, but a big blow for people who could stay here".

Speculation swirled over whether Russia was indeed pulling out, after photos circulated on the Internet showing the main administrative building in Kherson city with Russia's flag no longer flying atop it. Ukraine said those images could be Russian disinformation.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, said it could be a Russian trap.

"This could be a manifestation of a particular provocation, in order to create the impression that the settlements are abandoned, that it is safe to enter them, while they are preparing for street battles," she said in televised comments.

MORE ATTACKS, POWER CUTS

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have launched three missile and 16 air strikes on Ukrainian targets as well as more than 40 shelling episodes, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Thursday night.

On the southern front, Russian fire hit more than 35 towns and there were more than 30 reconnaissance missions by drones, the statement said.

Ukrainian aircraft made 12 strikes on eight Russian-occupied areas where men and equipment were concentrated, hitting four anti-aircraft units, the military said. Ukrainian artillery also struck three areas with men and equipment and two ammunition depots, it said.

Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.

A Ukrainian foreign ministry statement on Thursday night accused the Russian authorities of carrying out "mass forced movement of residents" in Kherson and Zaporzhzhia provinces in the south and Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east "to the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea or to the Russian Federation".

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of war crimes during the eight-month-long war, charges that Moscow rejects. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities and towns.

Its attacks in the past few weeks on Ukrainian energy and water supplies have hit civilians hard as winter approaches, the Kyiv government says. As of Thursday night, 4.5 million Ukrainians in the capital Kyiv and 10 other regions were temporarily without power, the latest outages caused by Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvcnVzc2lhLXNpZ25hbHMtcmV0cmVhdC1zb3V0aGVybi11a3JhaW5lLWt5aXYtZmVhcnMtdHJhcC0zMDQxNDIx0gEA?oc=5

2022-11-03 21:47:00Z
1639770046

Singapore ranked second globally for best talent, only Asian nation in top 20 - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - The world’s nations are fighting an intense battle for the best workers, and Singapore has yet again been ranked the second-best country to find them.

The country comes just behind Switzerland but ahead of 131 countries, according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2022, which was published on Thursday.

It is the only Asian state to make the European-dominated top 20 in the list.

The report, published by business school Insead and Washington-based Portulans Institute, is sponsored by the Temasek-linked Human Capital Leadership Institute for this latest edition.

The 133 countries rated own 98 per cent of the world’s economic output and account for more than 93 per cent of its population, the authors wrote.

They added that they aim to help policymakers, investors and recruiters make sense of labour trends from a global perspective.

Singapore has clinched second place every year since the index’s first edition in 2013, except in 2020, when it slipped one spot.

Switzerland hogged first place from the start, and the United States had been the other podium companion since 2017 until this year, when it got nudged down by Denmark, which takes third place.

The study also carries a city ranking, where Singapore ranks sixth, behind American cities San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Switzerland’s Zurich and Lausanne. Again, it is the only Asian city to be in the top 20.

Do such rankings have any practical impact? Yes, said Mr Helmi Yusoff from global consultancy Mercer.

“While studies like these are broad, they offer useful insights to global workers who are looking to relocate to another country,” he said.

This year’s 336-page electronic volume draws on 69 macroeconomic and country-level variables, and rates how countries attract overseas talent and help local workers with regulatory and business environments, as well as how states groom workers through education and training, and retain them with living and sustainability practices. 

The impact these efforts have on vocational and technical workers, as well as professional and managerial workers, is collated. 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3Mvc2luZ2Fwb3JlLXJhbmtlZC1zZWNvbmQtZ2xvYmFsbHktZm9yLWJlc3QtdGFsZW50LW9ubHktYXNpYW4tbmF0aW9uLWluLXRvcC0yMNIBAA?oc=5

2022-11-03 13:19:38Z
CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3Mvc2luZ2Fwb3JlLXJhbmtlZC1zZWNvbmQtZ2xvYmFsbHktZm9yLWJlc3QtdGFsZW50LW9ubHktYXNpYW4tbmF0aW9uLWluLXRvcC0yMNIBAA

China authorities apologise after boy dies in COVID-19 lockdown - CNA

On Thursday district health authorities published a detailed account of the incident on social media and expressed their "sincere condolences" to the boy's relatives.

"We sincerely accept criticism and supervision from the media and netizens, and are determined to rectify (mistakes)," they wrote.

The Lanzhou authorities admitted it took more than 90 minutes to dispatch an ambulance after the boy's father rang an emergency hotline multiple times, and they confirmed lengthy interactions with staff took place at the compound gate.

"This incident exposed blockages in the emergency rescue mechanism, weakness in emergency response capabilities, and the inflexibility of cadres' work," their statement said.

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTRAGE

Authorities said Tuo had eventually managed to flag a taxi with help from a policeman at another checkpoint.

However, Tuo said he had been forced to break through a checkpoint barrier and that it was a passer-by who helped him flag the ride.

He also claimed he was asked to present a PCR test result by community staff, despite the entire housing compound having been under lockdown and not tested for the previous 10 days.

The tragedy triggered a storm of online criticism of China's zero-COVID policy, with one related hashtag censored on Weibo after gaining hundreds of millions of views.

"Three years of the COVID pandemic have been his entire life," read one widely circulated comment.

"Even though I didn't experience it, I feel like I can't breathe," wrote another user.

Tuo said he was later contacted by a person who said they were a retired local official and offered to arrange for Tuo to be sent 100,000 yuan (US$13,743) if he signed a pledge agreeing not to go public or seek redress over the incident.

Tuo said he rejected the offer, instead demanding an explanation for his son's death.

On Wednesday morning, a funeral for Wenxuan was held in the family's nearby hometown of Hezheng. Tuo did not attend, for fear of being quarantined on arrival.

Numerous cases of people dying because they were unable to get medical care due to COVID-19 restrictions have drawn viral outrage this year, including during Shanghai's two-month lockdown.

In January, a senior Chinese official warned hospitals not to turn away patients after a woman's miscarriage during a lockdown in Xi'an sparked fury. She was refused hospital entry for not having a PCR test result.

Late last month, censors scrubbed posts saying a 14-year-old girl had died in the central city of Ruzhou after falling ill in a quarantine facility and being denied prompt medical care.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1hdXRob3JpdGllcy1hcG9sb2dpc2UtYm95LWRpZXMtY292aWQtMTktbG9ja2Rvd24tbGFuemhvdS0zMDQxMDM20gEA?oc=5

2022-11-03 10:54:00Z
CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1hdXRob3JpdGllcy1hcG9sb2dpc2UtYm95LWRpZXMtY292aWQtMTktbG9ja2Rvd24tbGFuemhvdS0zMDQxMDM20gEA

Fear of F-35 stealth jets may be why North Korea is firing so many missiles, analysts say - CNA

SEOUL: North Korea has fired more missiles in the last 24 hours than it did during the whole of 2017 - the year of "fire and fury" when leader Kim Jong Un traded barbs with then-US president Donald Trump.

What has triggered the record-breaking blitz of weapons tests? Analysts say ongoing US-South Korean military exercises are a key factor, and warn that Kim is building up to another nuclear test.

AFP takes a look at what's going on:

What drills?

Seoul and Washington are carrying out their largest ever joint air drills, called Vigilant Storm, which involve hundreds of warplanes from both sides staging mock attacks 24 hours a day.

The drills, originally due to end on Friday (Nov 4), will be extended, South Korea's air force said, to "maintain ironclad security joint posture" in the face of North Korean aggression.

The complex annual exercises take "months of planning and preparation", South Korea's air force says.

This year, about 240 American and South Korean warplanes will conduct about 1,600 sorties, which is "the largest number ever" for these drills, it added.

The exercises "strengthen the operational and tactical capabilities of combined air operations", it said.

Why do they matter?

The drills involve some of South Korea and America's advanced fighter jets - F-35As and F-35Bs, both of which are stealth aircraft designed to produce as small a radar signature as possible.

North Korea may have nuclear weapons - which the South does not - but its air force is the weakest link in its military, analysts say, and is likely unable to counter stealth aircraft technology.

"Most of North Korea's aircraft are outdated ... they have very few state-of-the-art fighter jets," Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.

"The North does not have much oil needed for aircraft, so training is also not being done properly," he added.

What's Kim afraid of?

The stealth jets, experts say.

This summer there were reports that US and South Korean commandos were practising so-called "decapitation strikes" - the removal of North Korea's top leadership in a lightning-fast military operation.

Pyongyang's blitz of launches this week are "because of Vigilant Storm which includes the F-35 stealth fighter jets", said Go Myong-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Pyongyang believes stealth jets would "be used in decapitation operations", Go added.

Experts say there are additional signs that Kim is concerned, pointing to a revision of North Korea's nuclear law this September.

The new law, which allows for a first nuclear strike, placed Pyongyang's nukes under Kim's "monolithic command".

If North Korea's nuclear "command and control system" - Kim - is "placed in danger owing to an attack by hostile forces, a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately", it says.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9mZWFyLWYzNS1zdGVhbHRoLWpldHMtbm9ydGgta29yZWEtbWlzc2lsZS1zdHJpa2VzLXNlb3VsLXVuaXRlZC1zdGF0ZXMta2ltLWpvbmctdW4tMzA0MDgyNtIBAA?oc=5

2022-11-03 08:02:00Z
1622275830

North Korea ICBM may have failed in flight, officials say; residents in Japan told to shelter - CNA

TOKYO/SEOUL: North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Thursday (Oct 3), including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that triggered an alert for residents in parts of central and northern Japan to seek shelter.

Despite an initial government warning that a missile had overflown Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect.

Officials in South Korea and Japan said the missile may have been an ICBM, which are North Korea's longest-range weapons, and are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to the other side of the planet.

South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight, Yonhap news agency reported, without elaborating. A spokesman for South Korea's ministry of defence declined to confirm the possible failure.

Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the government had lost track of the missile over the Sea of Japan, prompting it to correct its announcement that it had flown over Japan.

Retired Vice Admiral and former Japan Maritime Self Defense Force fleet commander Yoji Koda said that the loss of radar tracking on the projectile pointed to a failed launch.

"It means at some point in the flight path there was some problem for the missile and it actually came apart," he said.

Although the warhead came down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan debris, which would have been travelling at high speed, it may still have passed over Japan, Koda added.

North Korea has had several failed ICBM tests this year, according to South Korean and US officials.

The United States condemned North Korea's ICBM launch, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. "This launch is a clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," he said.

It also demonstrates the threat from North Korea's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes, Price added.

President Joe Biden and his national security team are "assessing the situation", National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement, which said the United States would take "all necessary measures" to ensure security.

North Korea also launched at least two short-range missiles.

The launch came a day after North Korea fired at least 23 missiles, the most in a single day, including one that landed off South Korea's coast for the first time.

South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman strongly condemned North Korea's series of missile launches as "deplorable, immoral" during a phone call on Thursday, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

After the first launch on Thursday, residents of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures in Japan were warned to seek shelter indoors, according to the J-Alert Emergency Broadcasting System.

"We detected a launch that showed the potential to fly over Japan and therefore triggered the J Alert, but after checking the flight we confirmed that it had not passed over Japan," Hamada told reporters.

The first missile flew to an altitude of about 2,000km and a range of 750km, he said. Such a flight pattern is called a "lofted trajectory", in which a missile is fired high into space to avoid flying over neighbouring countries.

In brief comments to reporters a few minutes later, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "North Korea's repeated missile launches are an outrage and absolutely cannot be forgiven."

About half an hour after the launch was first reported, Japan's Coast Guard said the missile had fallen.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9ub3J0aC1rb3JlYS1maXJlcy1iYWxsaXN0aWMtbWlzc2lsZS1qYXBhbi10ZXJyaXRvcnktcmVzaWRlbnRzLXNoZWx0ZXItMzAzOTc4NtIBAA?oc=5

2022-11-02 23:53:00Z
1622275830

Why did North Korea fire a missile across the maritime border with the South? - CNA

SEOUL: For the first time in nearly 70 years, nuclear-armed North Korea on Wednesday (Nov 2) fired a ballistic missile across the Northern Limit Line - the de facto maritime border that separates it from the South.

It was among 23 missiles Pyongyang fired on Wednesday, Seoul's military said, the most in a day. They included seven short-range ballistic missiles and six ground-to-air ones.

South Korea, which suspended flight routes and warned island residents in the area to hide in bunkers, called it "effectively a territorial invasion", firing three missiles of its own in response.

The North also fired more than 100 rounds of artillery from its east coast into a military buffer zone, South Korea's military said. 

Here's what the Northern Limit Line is and what might explain North Korea's actions.

Did the missile hit South Korea? 

No, but it came close.

One short-range ballistic missile landed just 57km off the South Korean coast in international waters.

Seoul's military said it was the "first time since the peninsula was divided" at the end of Korean War hostilities in 1953 that a North Korean missile had landed so close to the South's territorial waters.

It splashed down 26km south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two countries, which remain technically at war since the conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

What's this border? 

On land, North and South Korea are divided by a clearly marked, heavily-fortified border, the full length of which bristles with barbed wire, is studded with gun turrets and patrolled by soldiers.

At sea, after the armistice agreement, the US-led United Nations Command drew the Northern Limit Line to prevent accidental clashes between the two sides.

North Korea never officially recognised the border, claiming it should be further south.

Pyongyang thinks the Northern Limit Line is "a significant disadvantage to them", Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.

Buoyed with confidence in their nuclear weapons programmes, they may now be looking to "nullify" the de facto border, he added.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9ub3J0aC1rb3JlYS1maXJlcy1taXNzaWxlLWFjcm9zcy1ib3JkZXItc291dGgta29yZWEtbm9ydGhlcm4tbGltaXQtbGluZS0zMDM4ODEx0gEA?oc=5

2022-11-02 13:13:00Z
1622275830

Don't betray Barisan Nasional because you were not picked for Malaysia GE15: Ahmad Zahid tells politicians - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has warned former Members of Parliament (MPs) who have not been chosen as candidates for the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15) against betraying the coalition.

This came after several senior figures were dropped as the coalition unveiled its candidates in the peninsula on Tuesday (Nov 1).

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Ahmad Zahid, who is also the president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), said: "Don’t even think about betraying the party directly or indirectly.”

“If this happens, it means that they are ungrateful because all this while, they have been … occupying positions for a long time thanks to UMNO and BN party tickets."

In what may be a reference to caretaker federal territories minister Shahidan Kassim, Ahmad Zahid said: “Don’t even try to close the operational rooms (and) give statements that tarnish the reputation of their own party.”

“They need to realise that it only reveals the truth about their attitude towards the party and citizens need to evaluate such political personalities for themselves,” the BN chairman added.

On Monday, Mr Shahidan wrote on Facebook that all the BN operational rooms in his Arau constituency have been closed and that all the UMNO and BN flags have been lowered. 

“Tonight is the saddest night … First time in history,” said Mr Shahidan.  

According to Free Malaysia Today, Mr Shahidan plans to defend his Arau seat despite being dropped by BN, adding that he will choose a party that is supportive of Muafakat Nasional, the pact between Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and UMNO.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9tYWxheXNpYS1nZTE1LXVtbm8tYWhtYWQtemFoaWQtc2hhaGlkYW4ta2Fzc2ltLW1pYy12aWduZXN3YXJhbi0zMDM4Mjk20gEA?oc=5

2022-11-02 08:34:00Z
1631802154