• GM, 반도체 부족에 생산 차질

  미국 자동차회사 제너럴모터스(GM)가 반도체 부족 여파로 생산에 차질을 빚고 있다. GM은 1일(현지시간) 올해 2분기 반도체를 비롯한 특정 부품이 모자라 해당 부품만 빼고 만든 미완성 자동차 재고가 9만5천 대에 이른다고 밝혔다고 월스트리트저널(WSJ)과 AP통신 등이 전했다. 9만5천 대의 미완성차는 GM의 2분기 전체 판매량 58만2천 대의 16%에 해당한다. 산 차질은 GM의 2분기 실적에 상당한 타격을 줄 전망이다. GM이 이날 예상한 2분기 순이익은 16억∼19억달러로 금융정보업체 팩트셋이 집계한 시장 전망치 24억6천만달러를 크게 밑돌았다. 그러나 자동차 업계는 인플레이션 장기화와 경기침체 전망에도 소비자들의 신차 선호는 계속 강력할 것으로 보고 있어 완성차 업계의 수급불균형에 대한 고민은 깊어질 전망이다.

• Religious whipping marks Good Friday in the Philippines

  BULACAN: Catholic zealots in the Philippines whipped their backs bloody and raw on Good Friday, as the fervently religious country marked Easter with gruesome displays of faith. Scores of men — their faces covered — walked barefoot as they flogged themselves with bamboo whips under a blazing sun near the capital Manila, while others carried wooden crosses as they were beaten, in a ritual frowned upon by the Church, PH Iinquirer reported.Roy Balatbat, his skin still bearing fresh wounds from a public flailing on Thursday, walked for about a kilometer, striking himself and stopping to prostrate in prayer on the hot ground. “It’s punishing but if you have a wish, you will endure the pain,” Balatbat, 49, told AFP in Hagonoy municipality, Bulacan province. “I have been doing this for 30 years since I was a young man. My devotion is that I will only stop when I can’t do it anymore.” While most devotees in the mainly Catholic nation spend Good Friday at church or with family, others go to these extreme lengths to atone for sins or seek divine intervention.Before the grisly flogging begins, the men’s barebacks are deliberately punctured to make them bleed. Veterans of the gory spectacle display scars of previous whippings, while others endure the punishing act for the first time.

• 5% of Japan firms based overseas impacted by Ukraine crisis: poll

  [Blazing fire and black smoke rise from an oil storage facility in Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 26, 2022, following missile strikes in the war against Russia. (Photo by=Kyodo)] TOKYO: Fifty-five percent of Japanese companies based overseas have had their business operations impacted, or foresee they will be impacted, by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a recent survey by a Japanese staffing firm showed, Kyodo reported.The online survey of 699 Japanese entities across 10 economies, conducted by Pasona Group Inc. in mid-March, found that firms based in France were by far the most affected with 92.3 percent responding they had been impacted in some way. As the only European country included in the survey, this was followed by Malaysia at 72.0 percent and Singapore at 66.7 percent. Of the 55 percent of the overseas-based firms, 43.2 percent said they already feel the effects of the conflict, while 22.7 percent said they expect to do so within a month and 26.8 percent within three months. The most cited impact among the 43.2 percent was soaring costs of raw materials including oil, chemicals and metals. This was followed by rising logistics costs and energy prices.The economies covered by the March 11 to 16 survey were the United States, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. The manufacturing sector made up the biggest group of companies at 43.6 percent, followed by trading houses at 20.7 percent and retailers and wholesalers at 9.9 percent.

• China reports highest COVID-19 new daily cases since Feb 2020

  [Police and security members in protective suits stand outside cordoned off food stores following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China March 29, 2022. (File photo by=REUTERS/Aly Song)] BEIJING: China on Sunday (Apr 3) reported a total of 13,287 new daily cases for Apr 2, the highest level since February 2020, with the majority in northeastern Jilin province and the financial hub of Shanghai which has virtually locked down the entire city. The country reported 1,506 confirmed coronavirus cases in the previous day, the national health authority said on Sunday, down from 2,129 a day earlier. But the number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, surged to 11,781 on Saturday compared with 7,869 a day earlier. Of the new confirmed cases, 1,455 were locally transmitted, with 956 detected from Jilin and 438 from Shanghai. Shanghai, home of 25 million people, will carry out city-wide antigen testing on Sunday and mass nucleic acid testing on Monday, a senior official from the Shanghai health authority said at a press conference on Sunday.Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Saturday also urged Shanghai city to "make resolute and swift moves" to curb the pandemic. The city has been striving to stop the outbreak by imposing a two-stage lockdown, prompting manufacturers to halt operations and causing severe congestion at Shanghai port, the world's biggest container transporting hub.

• China to cut paper and wood tariffs from New Zealand from April 7

  [Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Shanghai, China October 19, 2020. (File photo by=REUTERS/Aly Song)] BEIJING: China will implement an upgrade to the free trade agreement between Beijing and Wellington to eliminate tariffs of 12 wood and paper products imported from New Zealand from Apr 7, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday (Apr 3), Reuters reported.The move follows the deal signed by the two governments in January to upgrade their existing free trade pact, allowing 99 per cent of New Zealand's US$3 billion wood and paper trade to China to receive tariff-free access over a 10-year implementation period. Import tariffs for products such as toilet or facial tissue stock and paper used for writing will be reduced to 6.8 percent and 4.5 percent from April 7 from current rates of 7.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively, and will be gradually cut over the next 10 years to reach zero."2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand and April 7th is the 14th anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA)," the finance ministry said in the statement. China has eliminated or reduced tariffs on 75 wood and paper tariff lines for New Zealand products since the existing FTA entered into force in 2008.

• Taliban bans drug cultivation, including lucrative opium

  [An Afghan man works on a poppy field in Jalalabad province April 17, 2014. (File photo by=REUTERS/ Parwiz )] KABUL: The Taliban announced on Sunday (Apr 3) a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, Reuters reported."As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country," according to an order from the Taliban's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law," the order, announced at a news conference by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, said. The order said the production, use or transportation of other narcotics was also banned. Drug control has been one major demand of the international community of the Islamist group, which took over the country in August and is seeking formal international recognition in order to wind back sanctions that are severely hampering banking, business and development.The Taliban banned poppy growing towards the end of their last rule in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance, according to experts.

• Religious whipping marks Good Friday in the Philippines

  BULACAN: Catholic zealots in the Philippines whipped their backs bloody and raw on Good Friday, as the fervently religious country marked Easter with gruesome displays of faith. Scores of men — their faces covered — walked barefoot as they flogged themselves with bamboo whips under a blazing sun near the capital Manila, while others carried wooden crosses as they were beaten, in a ritual frowned upon by the Church, PH Iinquirer reported.Roy Balatbat, his skin still bearing fresh wounds from a public flailing on Thursday, walked for about a kilometer, striking himself and stopping to prostrate in prayer on the hot ground. “It’s punishing but if you have a wish, you will endure the pain,” Balatbat, 49, told AFP in Hagonoy municipality, Bulacan province. “I have been doing this for 30 years since I was a young man. My devotion is that I will only stop when I can’t do it anymore.” While most devotees in the mainly Catholic nation spend Good Friday at church or with family, others go to these extreme lengths to atone for sins or seek divine intervention.Before the grisly flogging begins, the men’s barebacks are deliberately punctured to make them bleed. Veterans of the gory spectacle display scars of previous whippings, while others endure the punishing act for the first time.

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  2022-04-17

• 5% of Japan firms based overseas impacted by Ukraine crisis: poll

  [Blazing fire and black smoke rise from an oil storage facility in Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 26, 2022, following missile strikes in the war against Russia. (Photo by=Kyodo)] TOKYO: Fifty-five percent of Japanese companies based overseas have had their business operations impacted, or foresee they will be impacted, by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a recent survey by a Japanese staffing firm showed, Kyodo reported.The online survey of 699 Japanese entities across 10 economies, conducted by Pasona Group Inc. in mid-March, found that firms based in France were by far the most affected with 92.3 percent responding they had been impacted in some way. As the only European country included in the survey, this was followed by Malaysia at 72.0 percent and Singapore at 66.7 percent. Of the 55 percent of the overseas-based firms, 43.2 percent said they already feel the effects of the conflict, while 22.7 percent said they expect to do so within a month and 26.8 percent within three months. The most cited impact among the 43.2 percent was soaring costs of raw materials including oil, chemicals and metals. This was followed by rising logistics costs and energy prices.The economies covered by the March 11 to 16 survey were the United States, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. The manufacturing sector made up the biggest group of companies at 43.6 percent, followed by trading houses at 20.7 percent and retailers and wholesalers at 9.9 percent.

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  2022-04-04

• China reports highest COVID-19 new daily cases since Feb 2020

  [Police and security members in protective suits stand outside cordoned off food stores following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China March 29, 2022. (File photo by=REUTERS/Aly Song)] BEIJING: China on Sunday (Apr 3) reported a total of 13,287 new daily cases for Apr 2, the highest level since February 2020, with the majority in northeastern Jilin province and the financial hub of Shanghai which has virtually locked down the entire city. The country reported 1,506 confirmed coronavirus cases in the previous day, the national health authority said on Sunday, down from 2,129 a day earlier. But the number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, surged to 11,781 on Saturday compared with 7,869 a day earlier. Of the new confirmed cases, 1,455 were locally transmitted, with 956 detected from Jilin and 438 from Shanghai. Shanghai, home of 25 million people, will carry out city-wide antigen testing on Sunday and mass nucleic acid testing on Monday, a senior official from the Shanghai health authority said at a press conference on Sunday.Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Saturday also urged Shanghai city to "make resolute and swift moves" to curb the pandemic. The city has been striving to stop the outbreak by imposing a two-stage lockdown, prompting manufacturers to halt operations and causing severe congestion at Shanghai port, the world's biggest container transporting hub.

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  2022-04-04

• China to cut paper and wood tariffs from New Zealand from April 7

  [Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Shanghai, China October 19, 2020. (File photo by=REUTERS/Aly Song)] BEIJING: China will implement an upgrade to the free trade agreement between Beijing and Wellington to eliminate tariffs of 12 wood and paper products imported from New Zealand from Apr 7, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday (Apr 3), Reuters reported.The move follows the deal signed by the two governments in January to upgrade their existing free trade pact, allowing 99 per cent of New Zealand's US$3 billion wood and paper trade to China to receive tariff-free access over a 10-year implementation period. Import tariffs for products such as toilet or facial tissue stock and paper used for writing will be reduced to 6.8 percent and 4.5 percent from April 7 from current rates of 7.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively, and will be gradually cut over the next 10 years to reach zero."2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand and April 7th is the 14th anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA)," the finance ministry said in the statement. China has eliminated or reduced tariffs on 75 wood and paper tariff lines for New Zealand products since the existing FTA entered into force in 2008.

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  2022-04-04

• Taliban bans drug cultivation, including lucrative opium

  [An Afghan man works on a poppy field in Jalalabad province April 17, 2014. (File photo by=REUTERS/ Parwiz )] KABUL: The Taliban announced on Sunday (Apr 3) a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, Reuters reported."As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country," according to an order from the Taliban's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law," the order, announced at a news conference by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, said. The order said the production, use or transportation of other narcotics was also banned. Drug control has been one major demand of the international community of the Islamist group, which took over the country in August and is seeking formal international recognition in order to wind back sanctions that are severely hampering banking, business and development.The Taliban banned poppy growing towards the end of their last rule in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance, according to experts.

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  2022-04-04

• Pakistan heads for early election amid move to remove PM Imran Khan

  [Imran Khan, elected in July 2018 vowing to tackle corruption and fix the economy, remains popular with some voters, even though a lot of his public support has been lost as a result of rocketing inflation and ballooning foreign debt. (Photo by= Getty Images)] Pakistan's president has dissolved parliament - a step towards early elections - following an attempt to remove PM Imran Khan from office, BBC reported. It comes after parliament's deputy speaker refused to hold a vote of no-confidence the PM was expected to lose. Mr Khan claims the US is leading a conspiracy to remove him because of his criticism of US policy and other foreign policy decisions he has taken.Opposition politicians ridicule the allegation, and the US has denied it. Imran Khan visited Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin as Russia was launching the invasion of Ukraine, He has previously criticised America's "War on Terror". The BBC's Secunder Kermani says prime minister is widely regarded as having come to power with the help of Pakistan's army, but now observers say they have fallen out. In public, however, both the military and Mr Khan deny there has been any falling out. His political opponents seized the opportunity to demand the no-confidence vote after persuading a number of his coalition partners to defect to them.There have been only two previous instances in Pakistan's political history when sitting prime ministers faced a vote of no confidence, and both times Benazir Bhutto, in 1989, and Shaukat Aziz, in 2006, emerged unscathed.

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  2022-04-04

실시간 국제 기사

• Japan PM Kishida to visit India, Cambodia from March 19-21

  [Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at his office on Oct. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. (File photo by=AP/Eugene Hoshiko)] TOKYO: The Japanese government said Friday that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit India and Cambodia from March 19 to 21, Kyodo reported. Kishida will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to confirm cooperation toward a free and open Indo-Pacific, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference. The visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and India. The two countries are members of the Quad group of four major Indo-Pacific democracies with the United States and Australia. Their leaders earlier this month met online and agreed they oppose any unilateral use of force to change the status quo in their region, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine brings renewed concerns over China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. In Cambodia, Kishida will meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday as part of Tokyo's efforts to strengthen cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including forging a unified response toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Cambodia holds this year's presidency of the 10-member ASEAN, which has been struggling to defuse the political crisis in Myanmar where the military toppled the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said he will make a four-day trip from Friday to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for talks with his counterparts.

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  2022-03-19

• Japan aims to speed up start of new offshore wind power plants

  [“Following the situation in Ukraine, we are facing an urgent need to accelerate the introduction of renewable energy as a homegrown energy source toward decarbonization. This is also vital in terms of ensuring energy security,” Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference in Tokyo. (Photo from Anadolu Agency)] TOKYO: Japan will aim to speed up the start of operations of some new offshore wind power plants, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed the resource-poor nation to review its high energy dependence on imports, the government said Friday, Kyodo reported. The government's permission criteria for businesses bidding to use marine areas to generate offshore wind power will be reviewed so companies that can start sooner rather than later will be more highly evaluated, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. Last October, the government approved its energy plan, a road map toward a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, positioning offshore wind power as a driving force of renewable energy. In December, a group led by trading house Mitsubishi Corp. won the right to use three marine areas, near Tokyo and in northeastern Japan, with its plan of supplying power at low prices highly rated. The group aims to start a business in 2028. However, some of the companies that lost out in the bidding process complained that the criteria were too cost-oriented. A ministry council will start specific discussions on how to revise the screening criteria next week, Hagiuda added. Japan's law on the use of oceans for renewable energy in 2019 allows wind power operators to use designated marine areas for up to 30 years.

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  2022-03-19

• Cambodia opposition figures hit with jail terms

  [A relative of a jailed opposition member clashes with security forces during a protest in front of a court in Phnom Penh (File photo by= AFP/TANG CHHIN Sothy)] PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court handed out jail terms Thursday (Mar 17) to 20 opposition figures including exiled leader Sam Rainsy, who condemned the judgment as a fresh bid by strongman ruler Hun Sen to quash dissent, AFP reported. Rainsy has lived in France since 2015 to avoid jail on a number of convictions he says are politically motivated, including a 25-year sentence passed in March last year. The court jailed Rainsy and six other senior opposition figures for 10 years, and 13 more activists for five years. One other activist was given a suspended five-year sentence. "The justice system has again been used as a blunt political tool in an attempt to quash opposition to Hun Sen's dictatorship. Opposing dictators is a duty, not a crime," Rainsy wrote on his Twitter account. There were scuffles outside the court as security officers tried to confiscate a banner from the defendants' wives and supporters, knocking some of them to the ground. Around 150 opposition figures and activists have been put on trial for treason and incitement charges - mostly for sharing social media messages supporting Rainsy's return to the kingdom. Meanwhile, Hun Sen is one of the world's longest-ruling leaders, maintaining an iron grip on power for more than 37 years, with critics and rights groups saying he has ruthlessly crushed dissent by jailing opponents and activists.

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  2022-03-18

• Russia attacks theatre sheltering civilians, Ukraine says

  [Satellite pictures taken on 14 March - released by the US company Maxar - showed the Russian word for "children" had been marked on the ground in large letters to warn Russian jets away from the building. (Photo by Maxar via BBC)] Ukraine has accused Russian forces of bombing a theatre where civilians were sheltering in the besieged southern city of Mariupol. Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC that between 1,000 and 1,200 people had sought refuge in the building. While the number of casualties is unclear, a local MP said the basement where people were gathered had withstood the bombing. But Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city's mayor, earlier said emergency workers were struggling to reach the building due to constant shelling. Images of the theatre, verified by the BBC, showed extensive damage and smoke rising from the site. Russia's airstrikes and shells have previously hit a maternity hospital, a church, and apartment buildings. Mariupol's city council said in a statement that Russian forces "deliberately and cynically destroyed" the theatre, saying a "plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding". Both Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, and the city council accused Russia of a "war crime" in the wake of the attack. The BBC was earlier told that many children and elderly people were sheltering inside and that conditions were quickly deteriorating. Meanwhile, hours after news of the destruction emerged, the Russian defense ministry denied it had carried out an air strike against the theatre, the RIA news agency reported.

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  2022-03-18

• Russia's state TV hit by stream of resignations

  [Lilia Gildeyeva revealed on Tuesday she had left Russia and resigned. (Photo by=ALAMY/TASS)] When Marina Ovsyannikova burst into Russian living rooms on Monday's nightly news, denouncing the war in Ukraine and propaganda around it, her protest highlighted a quiet but steady stream of resignations from Russia's tightly controlled state-run TV. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked her, appealing to anyone working for what he calls Russia's propaganda system to resign. Any journalist working in what he calls the fourth branch of power risks sanctions and an international tribunal for "justifying war crimes", he warns. Some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's biggest cheerleaders on state-run TV have already faced sanctions, including Vladimir Solovyov who presents a talk show on Russia's biggest channel Rossiya-1, and Margarita Simonyan who has accused anyone ashamed of being Russian at this point of not really being Russian. Channel One colleague Zhanna Agalakova quit her job as Europe correspondent while two journalists have left rival NTV. Lilia Gildeyeva had worked for the channel as a presenter since 2006 and Vadim Glusker had been at NTV for almost 30 years. A number of other RT journalists have also resigned, including non-Russian journalists working for its language services. One of Russia's biggest talk show hosts, Ivan Urgant, has taken a break from his prime-time Evening Urgant show on Russia's second-biggest channel, Channel One, the same station as Marina Ovsyannikova.

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  2022-03-18

• Thailand faces early election as coalition cracks widen

  [Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha is seeking to control growing divisions in his ruling coalition. The former army chief, who led a 2014 coup before taking power as prime minister after the 2019 election, leads a 16-party coalition that holds 248 seats compared with the opposition's 208. (File photo by=AFP/Jack TAYLOR)] BANGKOK: Thailand's embattled prime minister will hold talks with party leaders in his ruling coalition Thursday (Mar 17) as he seeks to control growing divisions that could lead to early elections later this year, AFP reported. Prayut Chan-o-cha heads a sprawling coalition facing criticism over his mismanagement of COVID-19, a pandemic economy still in the doldrums, and simmering tensions over huge 2021 pro-democracy protests that have dominated the past 12 months. The turbulent political atmosphere in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy has seen a weakened opposition agitate for the prime minister to step down, calling for a no-confidence debate when parliament resumes in May. And on Monday, General Prayut's one-time mentor, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, said early elections could be held after Thailand hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November. While the deputy prime minister has no power over when polls are held, it is the first government indication on the date of national elections - months ahead of Gen Prayut's term ending in March 2023. Speaking after his deputy's remarks, Gen Prayut refused to comment on a possible election date. If polls are held after the APEC summit, or sooner, analysts say they could return an unfavorable result for Gen Prayut. "A lot of Thais want to see Gen Prayut out of office," said professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

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  2022-03-18

• Indonesia can raise fuel subsidies without widening deficit: Finance ministry

  [A worker fills a tank with subsidized fuel at a fuel station in Jakarta Apr 18, 2013. (File photo by=Reuters/Beawiharta)] JAKARTA: Indonesia has room to increase fuel subsidies without widening its budget deficit beyond a projected maximum of 4.85 per cent of gross domestic product, thanks to windfall revenue from high commodity prices, a finance ministry official said on Thursday (Mar 17), Reuters reported. Indonesia has kept prices of its most widely consumed fuels unchanged despite a spike in global oil prices amid a war between Russia and Ukraine. Febrio Kacaribu, head of the ministry's fiscal policy office, said existing subsidies in the 2022 budget will have to be increased in response to rising energy prices. The government was assessing a number of scenarios but it expected the 2022 fiscal deficit to come in below 4.85 per cent by year's end, as strong revenues would partially offset any subsidy hike, he said in a conference call with investors. Febrio did not provide details. Meanwhile, Indonesia is a major exporter of palm oil, coal, nickel, copper, and tin among other commodities. The Southeast Asian country has allocated 134 trillion rupiah (US$9.37 billion) for energy subsidies this year, including for electricity. Separately, it also compensates state oil firm Pertamina for losses stemming from some fuel sales.

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  2022-03-18

• North Korea silent about apparent missile launch failure

  [KCNA released a photo apparently showing North Korea's missile being launched from a submarine. (Photo by=KCNA VIA REUTERS)] SEOUL: North Korea's state media stayed mum Thursday on the country's latest suspected missile test, a day after the South Korean military said the launch appeared to have failed. The North fired a projectile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang that appeared to have exploded in midair at an altitude below 20 kilometers, according to informed sources. The North's tightly controlled official media, including the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, did not carry any reports on the launch Thursday morning. They usually report on such tests, if presumed successful, the next morning The North's latest projectile launch came as the secretive Kim Jong-un regime has stated plans to develop "reconnaissance satellites," which South Korea and the United States regard as a disguise for the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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  2022-03-18

• 3 dead, over 160 injured after M7.4 quake hits northeastern Japan

  [At an intensity of upper 6, many people find it impossible to remain standing or move without crawling. The jolts are strong enough to toss people through the air, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. A collapsed house is pictured in the town of Kunimi, Fukushima Prefecture, in the morning of March 17, 2022, after a powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan shortly before midnight. (Photo by=Kyodo)] TOKYO: A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake off northeastern Japan late Wednesday left three people dead and more than 160 injured across 12 prefectures and caused a high-speed shinkansen to derail, Kyodo reported. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that authorities are looking into a total of four deaths apparently caused by the quake, while the Defense Ministry dispatched the Self-Defense Forces for disaster relief in Fukushima Prefecture to provide water service in areas where supply has been disrupted. The 11:36 p.m. temblor, which came two minutes after a magnitude 6.1 quake, registered an upper 6 on Japan's seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the areas that had been devastated by the March 11, 2011, megaquake. The quake, which occurred in waters off Fukushima at a depth of about 57 kilometers, was also felt across a wide swath of the country. The agency is warning of quakes of a similar scale in hard-hit areas for the next week or so. The quake caused power outages in northeastern and eastern Japan, affecting a total of more than 2.2 million households, including some 700,000 in Tokyo, according to TEPCO Power Grid Inc. and Tohoku Electric Power Network Co. Power was later restored to most.

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  2022-03-18

• Princess Aiko vows to fulfill duties as adult in 1st news conference

  [Princess Aiko takes part in her first news conference as an adult member of the imperial family on March 17 in the Imperial Palace. (Pool photo via Asahi)] TOKYO: Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, reiterated Thursday her aspirations to fulfill her duties "to the best of my ability" at her first press conference since coming-of-age last December, Kyodo reported. Speaking at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the 20-year-old princess said she would "value each and every one of my duties," as she offered "heartfelt gratitude" to all those who had supported her journey up till now. At the start of the press conference, the princess also expressed sympathy for those affected by a powerful earthquake off northeastern Japan that jolted wide areas of the country on Wednesday night. Princess Aiko went through official ceremonies to mark her coming of age when she turned 20 in December last year, but the customary press conference, usually held ahead of one's birthday, was postponed to mid-March to avoid disrupting her studies. The princess is currently studying Japanese literature at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, now on spring break. In Japan, 20 is the legal age of adulthood, but it will be lowered to 18 from April. Meanwhile, the last time a coming-of-age press conference was held was in December 2014 when Princess Kako, the younger daughter of the emperor's brother Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, turned 20.

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  2022-03-18