The World & Vietnam Newspaper highlights some notable world news this morning, February 19.
Asia
CHINA DAILY. Tourism revenue in China during the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday increased by 47.3% year-on-year, surpassing the levels recorded in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
JAPAN TIMES. IT engineers working in Japan will be paid an average of $36,061 in 2023, falling to 26th out of 72 countries, down six places from last year.
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| Human resources services firm Human Resocia Co., Ltd. said the decline shows that wage growth in Japan is slowing despite growing global demand for engineers in the information technology industry due to the spread of artificial intelligence and other digital technologies. (Source: Kyodo) |
KYODO. The Chiba prefectural government in Japan is preparing to introduce a flexible time-shift system that allows for a four-day workweek to accommodate employees' diverse work styles.
YONHAP. The South Korean Presidential Office issued a press release expressing hope that the newly established diplomatic relations with Cuba will bring positive impacts to the economic development of the two countries.
KOREA TIMES. The National Institute of Environmental Research of Korea cooperated with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study the causes of air pollution in Asia during winter with the ASIA-AQ project from February 19-26.
XINHUA. Azerbaijan has decided to open an embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, as part of efforts to strengthen ties with the war-torn South Asian country.
AL MASIRAH. The US-UK coalition carried out several airstrikes on Houthi-controlled positions in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah in Yemen.
IRNA. Iran unveiled its domestically-made Arman anti-ballistic missile system and Azarakhsh low-altitude air defense system.
RUDAW. Four Middle Eastern countries including Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon will establish a joint contact group to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking , according to Jordanian Interior Minister Mazin Farrayeh.
Europe
REUTERS. The Munich Security Conference 2024 took place from February 16-18 in Germany with more than 450 delegates, focusing on global security challenges, including the future of global governance and multilateralism, climate security, nuclear security, migration, AI...
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| Since its inception 60 years ago, the Munich Security Conference has been the world's leading forum for international security policy. |
REUTERS. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that there are currently no necessary conditions for Ukraine to join NATO.
| "As long as there is war, Ukraine cannot join NATO." (Prime Minister Mark Rutte) |
BBC. The UK will extend visas for Ukrainians eligible to stay legally for another 18 months , a move the Home Office estimates will affect more than 283,000 Ukrainians currently in the UK.
DW. German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to produce artillery shells in the Eastern European country, on the sidelines of the 2024 Munich Security Conference in Germany.
AL JAZEERA. Russia has invited Palestinian factions to a conference in Moscow on February 26, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said.
TASS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that building a high-speed railway from Moscow to major cities such as Ryazan, Kazan, Ekaterinburg and Minsk (capital of Belarus) are feasible projects.
America
CNN. The US State Department has approved the sale of various weapons systems to Italy, paving the way for the two countries to begin negotiations and move toward signing specific sales contracts.
FINANCIAL TIMES. EU officials are considering fining tech giant Apple over alleged violations of the bloc’s competition laws, with the fine potentially reaching around €500 million ($539 million).
AP. US tech group OpenAI has signed a deal with investors that values the company at $80 billion or more, bringing the value of the ChatGPT chatbot inventor to nearly three times in just the past 10 months.
BLOOMBERG. Ecuador has welcomed Russia's lifting of a ban on banana imports from the South American country, citing the discovery of harmful insects in the bananas.
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| 90% of bananas imported into Russia come from Ecuador - the world's largest banana exporter. (Source: TASS) |
BLOOMBERG. For the first time since August 2012, Argentina has no budget deficit and posted a surplus of more than 518 billion pesos ($600 million), thanks to strict discipline in budget spending.
REUTERS. Venezuela and Brazil have offered to assist Trinidad & Tobago in dealing with an oil spill in the southwest sea bordering Grenada, Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced.
Africa
AP. The US State Department has condemned the worsening violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, blaming M23, an armed group the US says is backed by Rwanda.
AFRICA NEWS. Leaders attending the 37th African Union (AU) Summit urged an immediate end to the Israel-Hamas conflict, calling for international solidarity with the Palestinian people.
| "Since its inception, the AU has never witnessed so many unconstitutional changes of government and this is clearly a failure of the AU." (AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat) |
AL JAZEERA. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has accused Ethiopian security forces of trying to block his access to the AU Summit, with Somalia describing the move as a "provocation".
EGYPT NEWS. The Egyptian government is building a logistics center at the Rafah border crossing to receive humanitarian aid sent to the people of the Gaza Strip.
LIBYA OBSERVER. The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, called on Libya's leaders to work together to build a strong, united and resilient country.
MIRAGE NEWS. The Government of Côte d'Ivoire has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.3 billion loan to prepare for the energy transition and respond to global warming.
AP. Senegal President Macky Sall has pledged to hold presidential elections "as soon as possible" after the Constitutional Council rejected his decision to delay the vote this month.
Oceania
ABC. The Australian government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will provide a grant of AU$50 million ($32.5 million) to the International Fund for Ukraine , directly supporting the procurement of priority military capabilities.
THE MANDARIN. With an estimated 1.37 million Australians visiting Indonesia in 2023, the country is set to overtake New Zealand as Australia's most popular overseas travel destination for the first time.
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