Ukraine moves to fortify embattled Bakhmut as Russia closes in - CNA

KYIV: Ukraine pledged on Monday (Mar 6) to bolster its defences in frontline Bakhmut, after reports that Kyiv was withdrawing from the city that has become a symbolic prize in the war.

But Ukrainian forces fighting to retain control of the salt-mining town told AFP that its capture by Russia was inevitable and that some units had already begun to pull back.

The eastern Ukrainian city has been badly damaged during the longest and bloodiest battle since Russia's more than year-long invasion.

Kyiv says the fighting is becoming increasingly difficult and analysts say its forces may have initiated a strategic retreat.

But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top commanders Monday and his office said they favoured "continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut".

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak also told AFP there was a "consensus" within the military on the need to "continue defending" the city.

Neither side has said how many troops they have lost in the battle, with observers saying both Moscow and Kyiv are trying to exhaust each other.

Outside Bakhmut, some Ukrainian soldiers had lost hope that Kyiv would hold the city and looked set to retreat.

Near the town of Chasiv Yar, 10km west of Bakhmut, one soldier said he came to repair his tank after a month of fighting.

"Bakhmut will fall," he told AFP from the vehicle, fatigue showing on his face.

"RETREATING IN GROUPS"

"We are almost encircled. The units are progressively retreating in small groups."

He said the only path out of Bakhmut was over dirt roads that lead to Chasiv Yar. If tanks get bogged down there, he said, they could become a target for artillery fire.

But a senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "considering the current positions" of Kyiv's forces near Bakhmut, it is "impossible to besiege" the city.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War has said Ukrainian forces may have initiated a strategic retreat from the town.

"Ukrainian forces are likely conducting a limited tactical withdrawal in Bakhmut, although it is still too early to assess Ukrainian intentions concerning a complete withdrawal from the city," it said in a recent analytical note.

The Ukrainian army said on Sunday that its troops had fought off "more than 130" Russian attacks in a single day around Bakhmut and said Moscow's forces were trying to encircle the city.

About 4,500 civilians remain in Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials have said.

In Chasiv Yar, an elderly woman named Antonina said she was scared but determined to stay in the village where she was born.

The 82-year-old said she survives on humanitarian aid and vegetables from her garden.

She said strikes were more intense at the end of last week.

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2023-03-06 16:24:00Z
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Wagner chief says Russian position at Bakhmut at risk without promised ammunition - CNA

"DEFENCE IS HOLDING"

A Russian victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give it the first major prize in a costly winter offensive, after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. Russia says it would be a stepping stone to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region, one of its most important objectives.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a commander of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut, said that there had been no order to retreat and "the defence is holding" in grim conditions.

"The situation in Bakhmut and around it is very much hell-like, as it is on the entire eastern front," Nazarenko said in a video posted on Telegram.

Ukraine's military said late on Sunday that Russian forces were attempting to advance on Bakhmut, shelling the city and nearby settlements of Ivanivske, Chasiv Yar, Kurdyumivka and Orikhovo-Vasylivka.

"The situation in Bakhmut can be described as critical," Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said in a video commentary.

To the north, Russian troops advanced towards the town of Bilohorivka, just inside the Luhansk region, and shelled several settlements in the direction of Kupiansk and Lyman, the Ukrainian military said.

Further south, it said that Russian forces made preparations for an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, shelling dozens of towns and villages including the city of Kherson, causing civilian casualties.

A woman and two children were killed by Russian mortar bombs in a village in Kherson region, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said.

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2023-03-06 06:58:41Z
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Long-sought high seas treaty a landmark win for oceans, biodiversity - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON - United Nations member states have agreed to the text of a landmark international treaty to protect the high seas beyond individual countries’ jurisdictions – the planet’s largest reservoir of biodiversity, of which only 1 per cent is currently protected.

“The ship has reached the shore,” conference president Rena Lee announced on Saturday night, to wide relief and applause from delegates after a gruelling, almost 40-hour session capping two weeks of negotiations at the UN headquarters in New York.

The agreement will be formally adopted after vetting by lawyers and translation into the UN’s six official languages. 

“There will be no reopening or discussions of substance,” Mrs Lee told negotiators.

The treaty on the “Conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction”, among other things, obliges countries to conduct environmental impact assessments of proposed activities on the high seas. No longer will the waters beyond countries’ jurisdictions be a free-for-all.

A sensitive chapter on the sharing of potential benefits of newly discovered marine resources was one of the points of contention, with developing countries fighting against exclusion from potential commercialisation of discoveries.

“This new agreement on biodiversity of the high seas and deep seabed is the culmination of the dedicated efforts of countless persons committed to strengthening the protections of the biodiversity of our high seas and deep seabed. It represents a hopeful pathway for us to better govern our use of such precious resources,” said Mrs Lee, who is Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

“Much more hard work lies ahead to achieve our objective, and I hope that the agreement gives a boost to such efforts. But more than this, the conclusion of this agreement represents a strong affirmation that when nations come together, there is so much more that we can achieve collectively for the betterment of our world.”

Mrs Lee, who has been chairing the talks since 2018, is the second Singaporean to chair a UN conference on the law of the sea.

The first was Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, who chaired the conference that came up with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in 1982.

“This is very good news,” Professor Koh told The Straits Times. “Given how fragmented the world has become, we were not sure whether Rena would be able to find consensus.”

He added: “What this shows is that multilateralism and international cooperation are still alive.

“The question is whether biodiversity is the common heritage of mankind. If so, how should the benefits be shared with all mankind, especially developing countries? The conference has managed to find consensus on all these important issues.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post on Sunday: “Oceans are critical to island states like us. Happy to see Singaporeans contribute and lead in this arena. It is a step forward for our planet and for all who share the habitat together.”

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2023-03-05 15:43:18Z
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China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology - South China Morning Post

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1. China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology  South China Morning Post
2. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off; defence spending to rise  CNA
3. China Markets Set for Weak Showing as Growth Target Disappoints  Bloomberg
4. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang bows out with appeal for economic recovery  South China Morning Post
5. Of omissions, accidental or otherwise: Parsing the Premier's references to China's Taiwan policy  The Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-03-05 15:13:08Z
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Malaysian government to expedite flood mitigation projects: Anwar - CNA

SEGAMAT, Johor: After visiting a flood relief centre in Malaysia's worst-hit state, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday (Mar 5) that flood mitigation projects, especially in Johor, will be expedited and need to start from June.

The tendering process for the projects needs to be done as soon as possible, as the floods are a recurring problem, he said.

“If we don’t do anything serious to address this (flood) issue, it will happen again. This is not the first time, and it has been going on for years and sometimes twice a year," he told reporters.

“As such, we decided that expensive flood mitigation projects worth RM600 million (US$134 million) and more will be expedited.”

Mr Anwar said the postponement of six flood mitigation projects before this was to avoid leakages in allocations to assist the people.

Even as thousands take shelter in relief centres, Mr Anwar maintained his government's stance on not declaring a disaster emergency in Johor.

“The government’s decision to not declare a state of emergency is because rain has started to taper off and floodwaters have begun to recede in several places," he said.

“Although there are also some places where the floodwaters remain stagnant, there is no need for a (disaster) emergency (to be declared) for now,” he told reporters after visiting a relief centre at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Kampung Tengah.

A Cabinet meeting on Friday had decided that there was no need for a flood emergency to be declared in Johor.

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2023-03-05 10:31:05Z
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Woman stabs passengers on South Korea train after being called 'ajumma' - The Straits Times

SEOUL - A 37-year-old woman accused of stabbing three people with a knife on a South Korea subway train said she did so because someone called her “ajumma”, police said on Saturday.

The accused woman, whose identity was withheld, was charged with injuring two women in her 60s and a man in his 50s inside a train headed to Jukjeon Station in the city of Yongin, Gyeonggi province.

Although the word “ajumma” is a casual way of referring to a middle-aged woman, originating from the more polite “ajumeoni”, it has grown to be associated with negative connotations among Koreans.

Women’s studies experts said ajumma is strongly associated with the stereotypical behaviour patterns that are widely mocked in Korean society, including being seen as aggressive and self-centred, or even a perceived lack of femininity. Experts say this is exacerbated by society’s lack of respect for the labour involved in housework and child care.

According to South Korea’s subway police, the accused was speaking on the phone when one of the two women asked her to lower her voice, calling her ajumma, which she said offended her.

One of the victims required surgery, although none of the injuries were fatal.

Officials are looking to charge the accused with inflicting “special violence” on another person. Similar to aggravated assault, this charge can be made when an injury has been inflicted via a deadly weapon or collective force, and is punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

Carrying a weapon also violates Article 42 of the Railroad Safety Act, although the officials did not request charges for this specific offence.

Public use of the word ajumma has led to controversies in the past.

In 2021, then Seoul mayoral candidate Ahn Cheol-soo – of the now-disbanded People’s Party – came under fire when referring to his opponent Park Young-sun of the Democratic Party of Korea as an “ajumma who has an apartment in Tokyo”.

Separately in 2019, a local court upheld the Korean military’s decision to suspend a colonel, saying that his references to female subordinates as “ajumma” had derogatory implications.

Also in 2019, Korea Yakult officially dropped calling its female sales employees “Yakult ajumma”, referring to them as “Fresh managers” instead.

“Whether or not you’re married and have children, it doesn’t really matter. Being called an ajumma means your life as agassi (a young woman) has ended and you are in the territory of unattractive middle-aged women,” said Ms Min Yu-ri, a 47-year-old mother living in Seoul. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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2023-03-05 08:00:46Z
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Why China's GDP Growth Target in 2023 Needs Less Stimulus - Bloomberg

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Why China's GDP Growth Target in 2023 Needs Less Stimulus  Bloomberg
2. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off; defence spending to rise  CNA
3. China sets modest GDP growth target of around 5% for 2023; defence spending to rise  The Straits Times
4. China Markets Set for Weak Showing as Growth Target Disappoints  Bloomberg
5. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off  CNA
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-03-05 06:00:00Z
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