Indian Space Research Organisation chairman S Somanath on Wednesday said ISRO has successfully done significant collaborations on its space missions and is also discussing a possible mission to the moon with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 

Somanath also said there is a good opportunity to launch a mission to explore  planet Venus by 2028.  

He was delivering the inaugural talk on "Indian Capabilities for Space and Planetary Exploration" at the 4th Indian Planetary Science Conference organised at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) here. 

The ISRO chief said it was important to have a connection between scientific institutions across the world and ISRO in building complex missions. 

He cited the example of the TRISHNA mission, designed to observe the earth's surface in the thermal infrared domain, which has been developed by ISRO and its French counterpart CNES.

"We are also discussing a possible mission to the moon with JASA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) where the land rover will be built by them and they will launch it using a Japanese rocket," said Somanath, who is also Secretary of the Department of Space. 

He said ISRO will look at possible engagement with other agencies in exploratory missions. 

"It is very important that it will happen only when they have confidence in you and our instruments and measurement systems are complementary to their goals," he said.

"ISRO has been successful in doing significant collaborations on its space missions, and it is important to have a connection between scientific institutions across the world and ISRO in building complex missions of this nature," Somanath said. 

Talking about the ambitious "Gaganyaan" project -- which envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth -- the ISRO chairman said it was going on very well.

This project gives a lot of opportunities to conduct experiments on board, with possibilities like micro-gravity, space mining, material testing, and space-based observations.

"We need to work on this and come up with scientific goals through the Gaganyaan programme. Sending a man up there is one part, but doing something very meaningful is something we are all looking at," he said.

Somanath informed discussions are underway for ISRO's proposed mission to Venus.

"Venus is a very challenging planet to explore and there is a good opportunity to launch it by 2028," he said, adding there is a lot of interest in the science community to make use of the capability in this mission. 

"I am very sure that we will take it up further," he added.

Somanath said ISRO will seek further approval for DISHA payloads and will look at the possibility of landing a mission to Mars a few years from now. 

North Korea launched multiple cruise missiles toward the sea on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, three days after the North carried out what it called a simulated nuclear attack on South Korea.

The launches are the North's fourth round of weapons tests since the US and South Korean militaries last week began large-scale military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.

The 11-day US-South Korean military drills are to end on Thursday. But North Korea is expected to continue its testing activities as the United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in coming days for another round of joint drills with South Korea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected several cruise missile launches made from the North's northeastern coastal town of Hamhung.

It said the missiles flew into the North's eastern waters and that South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing further details.

Coming off a record year in testing activity, the North has extended its provocative run in weapons demonstrations in 2023, launching around 20 missiles in 10 separate events.

The weapons that were tested included short-range nuclear-capable ballistic missiles capable of striking South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to attack the mainland US.

Wednesday's launches were the North's first tests of cruise missiles since March 21, when it said it fired two cruise missiles from a submarine.

Last month, North Korea launched what it called four long-range cruise missiles that demonstrated potential ranges to strike targets 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) away.

On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test-firing of a short-range ballistic missile that was launched from what was possibly a silo dug into the ground.

North Korea's state media called the launch a simulated nuclear attack on unspecified South Korean targets. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached an agreement with Ukraine on funding worth $15.6bn. The loan which is expected to e approved in the coming weeks will be the organisation's first one to a country at war. 

It would also be one of the largest financing packages Ukraine has received since Russia's invasion, BBC reports.

"A gradual economic recovery is expected over the coming quarters, as activity recovers from the severe damage to critical infrastructure, although headwinds persist, including the risk of further escalation in the conflict," IMF official Gavin Gray said in a statement announcing the agreement, Reuters reported. 

The agreement comes after months of negotiations between IMF staff and Ukrainian authorities. It still needs to be ratified by the IMF's board. The board is expected to discuss it in the coming weeks. 

According to Gray, the IMF staff expect the change in Ukraine's real gross domestic for 2023 to range from -3 per cent to +1 per cent.

"An ambitious and appropriately conditioned IMF program is critical to underpin Ukraine's reform efforts, including to strengthen good governance and address risks of corruption, and provide much needed financial support," U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.   

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has left Moscow, wrapping up a three-day visit, shortly after Japanese PM Fumio Kishida left Kyiv.

Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the attention from Xi's trip to Moscow where he promoted Beijing's peace proposal for Ukraine, which Western nations have already dismissed.

Xi's visit gave a strong political boost to Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.

After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their strategic cooperation, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West.

They said they would develop military cooperation and conduct more joint sea and air patrols, but there was no mention of Chinese weapon supplies to Russia, a prospect that the US and other Western allies feared. 

Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill prescribing jail terms of up to 10 years for offenses related to same-sex relations, responding to popular sentiment but piling more pressure on the East African country's LGBTQ community.

The bill was passed late Tuesday inside a packed parliamentary chamber, and after a roll call ordered by the House speaker, who had repeatedly warned it was necessary to identify those who might oppose the bill. 

It was supported by nearly all of the 389 legislators present.

Congratulations, said Speaker Anita Among. Whatever we are doing, we are doing it for the people of Uganda.

An earlier version of the bill enacted in 2014 later was nullified by a court on procedural grounds. Human Rights Watch has described the legislation as a more egregious version of the 2014 law, which drew widespread international concern and was struck down amid pressure from Uganda's development partners.

The bill now will go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto or sign it into law. He suggested in a recent speech that he supports the bill, accusing unnamed Western nations of trying to impose their practices on other people.

The bill was introduced last month by an opposition lawmaker who said his goal was to punish promotion, recruitment and funding related to LGBTQ activities. 

His bill creates the offense of aggravated homosexuality, which applies in cases of sex relations involving those infected with HIV as well as minors and other categories of vulnerable people. 

It was not immediately clear what the punishment is for that offense following last-minute amendments in a protracted plenary session in the capital, Kampala.

The bill also creates the offense of attempted homosexuality, punishable with up to 10 years in jail.

Same-sex activity is already punishable with life imprisonment under a colonial-era law targeting carnal knowledge against the order of nature, partly the basis of a report by dissenters on the parliamentary committee that vetted the bill before Tuesday's vote.

The bill is ill-conceived and unconstitutional because it criminalises individuals instead of conduct, said lawmaker Fox Odoi, representing the dissenters.

The bill, if signed into law, would violate multiple fundamental rights, including rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch.

One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalises people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda, the group's Oryem Nyeko said in a statement earlier this month. Ugandan politicians should focus on passing laws that protect vulnerable minorities and affirm fundamental rights and stop targeting LGBT people for political capital.

Anti-gay sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid alleged reports of sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious one for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son. Authorities are investigating that case.

Uganda's LGBTQ community in recent years has faced pressure from civilian authorities who wanted a tough new law punishing same-sex activity.

The Ugandan agency overseeing the work of NGOs last year stopped the operations of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the most prominent LGBTQ organisation in the country, accusing it of failing to register legally. But the group's leader stated that his organization had been rejected by the registrar of companies as undesirable.

The recent decision of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples also has inflamed many, including some who see homosexuality as imported from abroad.

The Church of England has departed from the Anglican faith and are now false teachers, Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said in a statement last month that described a crisis at hand.

Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa's 54 countries. 

US President Joe Biden has presented the prestigious 2021 National Humanities Medals to Indian-American actress and producer Mindy Kaling, with several others, in recognition of her giving voice to a new generation of storytellers, at a White House ceremony.  

The National Medal of Arts is the highest award, given to artists, arts patrons, and groups by the US government. It honours exemplary individuals and organisations that have advanced the arts in America and inspired others through their distinguished achievement, support, or patronage.

Presenting the award to the actress on Tuesday, at the ceremony attended by First Lady Dr Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Second Gentlemen, Biden said that Kaling is the first woman of colour to create, write, and star in a primetime sitcom.

He added that the 43-year-old actress empowers a new generation to tell their stories with irreverence and sincerity.

The daughter of Indian immigrants -- we know about that, right? Our Vice President is a daughter of Indian immigrants -- a mother who was a great scientist," the US President said.

"Above all, she is hardworking and an adoring mom, just like her own mom was. And, Mindy, we know your mom is always with you in your spirit. We know that, Biden added.

Imbued with humour and heart, Mindy Kaling's work across television, film, and books inspires and delights, capturing and uplifting the experiences of women and girls across our nation, the citation of Kaling's award, read by a military aide later, said.

The award honours individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities and broadened citizens' engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.

The 11 other distinguished medal recipients were Judith Francisca Baca, Fred Eychaner, Jose Feliciano, Gladys Knight, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Antonio Martorell-Cardona, Joan Shigekawa, Bruce Springsteen, Vera Wang, The Billie Holiday Theatre, and the International Association of Blacks in Dance.

Richard Blanco, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Walter Isaacson, Earl Lewis, Henrietta Mann, Ann Patchett, Bryan Stevenson, Amy Tan, Tara Westover, Colson Whitehead and Native America Calling were the recipients of the National Humanities Medal. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it.

Speaking after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Putin charged that Ukraine's Western allies so far have shown no interest in that.

Reuters reported Putin accused West of fighting "to the last Ukrainian" after talks with Xi in the Kremlin. Putin said the talks reflected the growing trade, energy and political ties between China and Russia. Quoting Xi, Reuters reported that the Chinese President reiterated China's neutral position on Ukraine and called for dialogue."We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with Russian approaches and can be taken as the basis for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for that in the West and in Kyiv. However, so far we see no such readiness from their side," Reuters quoted Putin saying.

Putin also said that Britain's plans to provide Ukraine with ammunition for battle tanks containing depleted uranium will force Russia to respond. Putin condemned Britain's move and said, “If the UK supplies ammunition with depleted uranium to Ukraine, Russia will be forced to react.”

The Netherlands is moving to stop central government employees from having apps including popular video sharing service TikTok installed on their work phones, amid concerns over data security.

Countries including the United States and Britain, as well as the European Union's executive branch, have banned the use of TikTok on government staff phones over fears that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, could share user data with the authoritarian government in Beijing.

“For civil servants employed by the national government, it is immediately discouraged to have apps from countries with an offensive cyber programme against the Netherlands and/or Dutch interests installed and used on their mobile work devices," the government said in a statement Tuesday that did not identify TikTok by name.

The new policy came after lawmakers asked whether it was possible to ban central government staff from using the app on work devices.

The advice follows an assessment by national intelligence agency AIVD that warned that apps from such countries, which include China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, carry a heightened risk of espionage.

A law China implemented in 2017 requires companies to give the government any personal data relevant to the country's national security. There's no evidence that TikTok has turned over such data, but fears abound due to the vast amount of user data it collects.

Alexandra van Huffelen, the Dutch minister for digitalisation, said in a statement that the new policy goes beyond discouraging one application. We opt for a structural solution that central government officials can trust in their work in a digital world.

The government said it is planning to move quickly to set up all mobile devices given to central government staff in such a way that only pre-permitted apps, software and/or functionalities can be installed and used.

The decision comes two weeks after the Dutch government angered Beijing by announcing that it is planning on imposing additional restrictions on the export of machines that make advanced processor chips, joining a US push that aims at limiting China's access to materials used to make such chips.

An Ecuador journalist suffered injuries after he connected to a computer a USB device reportedly fitted with explosives in the newsroom. According to reports, at least five news outlets received similar envelopes.

Journalists at various news outlets in Ecuador have been sent envelopes containing electronic devices fitted with explosives, Reuters reported. The attorney general's office said it has opened a terrorism investigation into the incidents.

“The envelopes sent to journalists had similar characteristics and the same contents and so would be investigated jointly,” Reuters reported quoting a statement from the attorney general's office. The statement did not name the news outlets affected.

One of the devices partly exploded at Ecuavisa television in Guayaquil. BBC reported the channel presenter Lenin Artieda was injured when he opened the envelope in the middle of the newsroom. The journalist told the publication that the explosive looked like a USB device and it detonated after he plugged it into his computer. Artieda suffered minor injuries. 

"It's a military-type explosive, but very small capsules," Reuters quoted Xavier Chango, the national head of forensic science, saying referring to the explosive sent to Ecuavisa.

The Ecuador police detonated in a controlled environment a device sent to the news department of TC Television in Guayaquil. Regional freedom of expression advocacy group Fundamedios said a third television station and radio outlet in Quito had also received envelopes with explosives, the publication reported.

The government said in a statement, “Any attempt to intimidate journalism and freedom of expression is a loathsome action that should be punished with all the rigour of justice." 

Similarly, Reuters reported that an anonymous envelope was sent to a journalist of television channel Teleamazonas on Thursday and upon opening it, they discovered a device, which the police confirmed contained explosives.

Denmark's defence minister on Saturday said it would deliver the first batch of refurbished Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine this spring.

Acting Defence Minister of Denmark Troels Lund Poulsen visited Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft vehicle company in Germany to see the progress of readying Leopard 1 tanks for delivery to Ukraine. Denmark has entered into a collaboration with Germany and the Netherlands to donate at least 100 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine, a statement from the Danish defence ministry said. “I was there to see that the work to prepare Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine is progressing so that we can get them going as soon as possible,” Poulsen said. “We still hope to be able to deliver the first tanks to Ukraine during the spring," he added.

“The first sub-goal of the project is to be able to deliver tanks to two battalions – corresponding to approximately 80 tanks – as quickly as possible. The first tanks are expected to be ready during the spring and will be used to train Ukrainian forces,” the statement said.

Besides education and training on the Leopard 1 tanks, Ukraine will be offered spare parts and an ammunition package.

Britain's defence intelligence on Saturday said that Ukraine's defence in Bakhmut is preventing Russia's Wagner mercenary group from capturing the entire town. However, defence intelligence found that Ukraine's supply lines to the West remain vulnerable.

The defence intelligence report said, “Over the last four days, Wagner Group forces have taken control of most of the eastern part of the Donbas town of Bakhmut. In the town centre, the Bakhmutka River now marks the front line.” The report said Ukrainian forces at present control West of Bakhmut town and they have destroyed key bridges “which runs north-south through a strip of open ground 200m-800m wide, between built-up areas.”

“With Ukrainian units able to fire from fortified buildings to the west, this area has become a killing zone, likely making it highly challenging for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault westwards,” the report said.

The report added, “However, the Ukrainian force and their supply lines to the west remain vulnerable to the continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south.”

Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted on Saturday with avalanches of searing gas clouds and lava, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country's most active volcano.

Merapi, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) down its slopes.

A column of hot clouds rose 100 metres (yards) into the air, said the National Disaster Management Agency's spokesperson Abdul Muhari. The eruption throughout the day blocked out the sun and blanketed several villages with falling ash. No casualties have been reported.

“It was Merapi's biggest lava flow since authorities raised the alert level to the second-highest in November 2020,” said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre.

She said residents living on Merapi's slopes were advised to stay 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) away from the crater's mouth and be aware of the danger posed by lava. Tourism and mining activities were halted.

The 2,968-metre (9,737-foot) mountain is about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Yogyakarta, an ancient centre of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries.

About a quarter million people live within 10 kilometres (6 miles) of the volcano.

Merapi is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and displaced 20,000 villagers.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

An eruption in December 2021 of Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Java island, left 48 people dead and 36 missing.

The Chinese military is pushing the government to introduce wartime legislation to defend the country's sovereignty and national interests with force if needed amid the growing tensions over Taiwan with the US, a media report here said on Saturday.

The deputies of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature, during its current session, called for an urgent need for such legislation, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has a substantial number of PLA deputies in the NPC, regarded as the rubber stamp Parliament for its routine approvals of the party's proposals.

PLA deputy Wu Xihua, who was among those pushing for wartime legislation, said China should step up law-making for the military.

Ye Dabin, another PLA deputy, said, “Taking our wartime needs into account, (we should) begin studying wartime legislation in a timely and systematic manner,” the Post report said.

Zhang Like, commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District, suggested that China should push for the introduction of laws such as the mobilisation of reserve forces.

Other deputies called for legislative changes related to the PLA's overseas operations, which have expanded in recent years and include the establishment of a military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.

Yuan Yubai, a former commander of the Southern Theatre Command, said Beijing should strengthen legal research and study international laws related to national defence to improve the rationality and legitimacy of the Chinese military's overseas missions.

Their comments come amid heightened tensions over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province which will one day unite with it. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to reunify the self-ruled island with the mainland.

US military and intelligence officials have warned there could be a conflict over Taiwan as early as 2027, the Post reported.

Beijing claims that the US is using Taiwan as a "pawn" to undermine China's rise, and will continue to take stronger measures to push back against perceived increases in support for Taiwan.

Xie Dan, a military law expert in Beijing, said Taiwan was a key factor behind the calls for wartime legislation.

“In recent years, Taiwan independence forces have become rampant, seriously threatening (China's) national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xie told the daily.

The Anti-Secession Law clearly stipulates the conditions for unifying the motherland in a non-peaceful way. But the situation is more acute, he said, adding that China faced greater geopolitical risks.

“The tasks of national defence and military construction in the new era, especially preparations for military struggles, have become more critical and urgent, so there are these calls to establish and improve the country's wartime legal system,” Xie said.

The most urgent need for wartime legislation at present is to adapt to the needs of hi-tech warfare, and further strengthen the mobilisation of reserve forces, requisitioning of strategic resources and integration of military and civilian development.

China has in recent years accelerated lawmaking related to the military, including amending both the Military Service Law and National Defence Law to enhance supervision along the borders.

Last month, Chinese lawmakers approved a resolution that gives the military the power to change how it applies the Criminal Procedure Law during wartime, the Post quoted an NPC saying that the decision was made to safeguard military missions and improve (the PLA's) ability to win in combat.

Three former organisers of Hong Kong's annual vigil in remembrance of victims of China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests were jailed Saturday for four and a half months for failing to provide authorities with information on the group in accordance with a national security law.

Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were arrested in 2021 during a crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement following massive protests more than three years ago. They were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and were found guilty last week.

The now-defunct alliance was best known for organising candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the 1989 Chinese military's crushing of Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, but it was voted to disband in 2021 under the shadow of the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Supporters say its closure has shown freedoms and autonomy that were promised when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 are diminishing.

Before its disbandment, police had sought details about its operations and finances in connection with alleged links to democracy groups overseas, accusing it of being a foreign agent. But the group refused to cooperate, arguing the police did not have a right to ask for its information because it was not a foreign agent and the authorities did not provide sufficient justification.

Under the security law's implementation rules, the police chief can request a range of information from a foreign agent. Failure to comply with the request could result in six months in jail and a fine of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,740) if convicted.

In her mitigation, Chow said the alliance was not a foreign agent and that nothing had emerged that proved otherwise, so sentencing them was about punishing people for defending the truth.

She said national security is being used as a pretext to wage a war on civil society.

Sir, sentence us for our insubordination if you must, but when the exercise of power is based on lies, being insubordinate is the only way to be human, she said.

Handing down the sentences, principal magistrate Peter Law said the case is the first of its kind under the new law and the sentencing has to send a clear message to society that the law does not condone any violation.

Law, who was approved by the city's leader to oversee the case, said he saw no justification for reducing the four-and-a-half-month sentence. In previous legal proceedings, the court ordered a partial redaction of some information after prosecutors argued that a full disclosure of information would jeopardize an ongoing probe into national security cases. Hence, some crucial details, including the names of groups that were alleged to have links with the alliance, were redacted.

Defense lawyer Philip Dykes said he could not say how strong or weak the alleged links were and that made mitigation difficult.

The annual vigil organised by the alliance was the only large-scale public commemoration of the June 4th crackdown on Chinese soil and was attended by massive crowds until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

Chow, along with two other former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, were charged with inciting subversion of state power under the security law in 2021. The alliance itself was charged with subversion. The national security law criminalises secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city's affairs as well as terrorism. Many pro-democracy activists were silenced or jailed after its enactment in 2020.

In a separate case, Elizabeth Tang, who was arrested for endangering national security earlier this week, was released on bail on Saturday. Tang is a veteran labour activist and also Lee's wife.

In a statement Thursday that did not provide a name, police said they had arrested a 65-year-old woman on Hong Kong Island for suspected collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. It said she was being detained for investigation.

I feel clueless because my work is always about labour rights and organizing trade unions. So I don't understand why I was accused of breaking the law and endangering national security, she told reporters on Saturday after being released. 

China's rubber-stamp parliament on Saturday confirmed Li Qiang as the country's new premier after his name was proposed by President Xi Jinping. A close ally of Xi, the 63-year-old will now occupy the No.2 spot in the country.

Qiang, who oversaw last year's stringent Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, is expected to oversee matters of the Chinese economy which has been struggling due to three years of 'zero-Covid' restrictions. Qiang will lead the mission to revive China's economy after the country registered a three per cent GDP growth last year, one of its lowest in decades. China has set a target of five per cent GDP growth for 2023. Li’s experience leading economically important regions — in addition to Shanghai, he also held top posts in affluent Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces — has fueled some hopes that he will promote business-friendly policies, the New York Times reported. According to reports, Qiang played a key role in bringing Tesla to Shanghai – the company’s first factory outside the United States.

Qiang is expected to galvanise the private sector as well as foreign investments in an attempt to dispel the impression that the government, which resorted to crackdown against top business houses like Alibaba, is reverting to the state-owned enterprises, Reuters stated.

He replaces Li Keqiang who became premier in 2013. Keqiang's powers were curbed by Xi, who placed allies in key strategic positions over him. In fact, Keqiang had voiced his concerns about the economic impact of the pandemic and restrictions. However, analysts say Qiang might play a larger role than his predecessor due to his proximity to Xi. Qiang grew close to Xi when they worked together in provincial roles earlier. Li worked for Xi in a secretarial role when the latter was governor of the native Zhejiang province in the mid-2000s. After Xi became president in 2012, Li became Zhejiang governor himself, then the communist boss of nearby Jiangsu province and in 2017, Shanghai party secretary, Bloomberg reported.

During the Communist Party Congress in October, Qiang was appointed to the number-two role on the Politburo Standing Committee. This was seen as his first step toward the elevation as premier. Xi has been elevating his loyalists into key positions, as he tightens power and bagged a historic third term as president.

Details of Qiang’s economic programme are expected to be revealed on Monday, when he gives his first remarks as premier.

China on Friday condemned a Japanese plan to release treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, demanding that Tokyo first receive the approval of neighbouring countries.

China has made similar complaints on a regular basis in the past, but has not said how it would respond if Japan goes ahead with the planned release.

China, which Japan invaded in the first half of the last century, has been a constant critic of Tokyo and its security alliance with the US, with the ruling Communist Party frequently invoking historical wrongs to rally domestic support and seek to undermine Japan's global standing.

“Japan's behaviour is extremely irresponsible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Friday.

"I would like to stress that Japan's release of treated nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima plant concerns the global marine environment and public health, which is not a private matter for the Japanese side,” Mao said.

“Until full consultation and agreement is reached with neighbouring countries and other stakeholders and relevant international institutions, the Japanese side shall not initiate the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea without authorization,” she said.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 12 years ago on March 11, 2011, destroying its power and cooling systems and triggering the meltdowns of three reactors. Massive amounts of radiation were released in the surrounding area.

South Korea, several Pacific Island nations and Japanese fishing communities have also objected to the planned release. Japanese officials and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the radioactive elements in the water can be reduced to safe levels.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsuro Nomura has said he will work to counter any damage from the release to the reputation of the area's seafood industry.

“We will convey the safety of the fish caught in the Japanese sea with scientific evidence,” Japan's Kyodo News quoted Nomura as saying.

A top court in Pakistan on Friday suspended the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against ousted prime minister Imran Khan in a case of hate speech against state institutions after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party filed a petition against the move.

The non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Khan on Thursday on behalf of a citizen for 'spreading hate' against state institutions and their offices following his recent speech.

Khan's party filed a petition in the Balochistan High Court (BHC) against the orders of a judicial magistrate in Quetta, urging it to cancel the arrest warrant and also quash the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him at a police station in Quetta, capital of Balochistan.

The Dawn reported that PTI argued the case registered against Imran at Quetta’s Bijli Road police station was not valid since the alleged offence did not fall under its jurisdiction. 

BHC's Justice Zaheer-ud-Din Kakar suspended the arrest warrant and adjourned the hearing for two weeks after issuing notices to the Balochistan inspector general of police, director of the investigation, senior superintendent (legal), the station house officer, and the complainant.

The judicial magistrate had ordered the police to arrest Khan, 70, and present him before the court.

This case is the latest of more than 76 cases filed against Khan since his removal from office in April 2022 through a no-trust move.

It was filed after Khan on Sunday made a blistering attack against the establishment of the country following a botched attempt by police to arrest him from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore in the Toshakhana case.

Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit. 

The complainant accused that the former premier’s statement was tantamount to “destroying public peace and order” and alleged he had harmed the credibility of the institutions, The Dawn reported. 

(With PTI inputs.)

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet Friday in Paris for a summit aimed at mending relations following post-Brexit tensions, as well as improving military and business ties and toughening efforts against Channel migrant crossings.

The French-British summit, the first since 2018, is set to show a new chapter is opening in relations between the two countries, according to Macron's office. Such an event was previously held almost every year.

Relations between the UK and France chilled amid post-Brexit wrangling over fishing rights and other issues, and hit rock-bottom under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who took delight in needling the French. His successor, Liz Truss, ruffled French feathers last year when she said the jury is out on whether Macron was a friend or a foe.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought Britain and its European neighbours closer together in support of Kyiv, and the mood improved after pragmatic, technocratic Sunak took office in October after Truss' brief and economically destabilizing term.

Sunak's visit also comes two weeks before King Charles III travels to France and then Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, in further British efforts to build bridges with European neighbours.

“The summit will be above all an opportunity to reaffirm and deepen the close cooperation in terms of military support for Ukraine," according to the statement from Macron's Elysee Palace, as both countries are the only nuclear powers in the region.

A delegation of seven senior ministers from each country will take part, including those responsible for foreign affairs, defence and domestic issues.

Last month the UK and the EU announced a breakthrough in talks to resolve the dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. Britain also has cautiously welcomed Macron's proposal for a European Political Community, a new forum aimed at boosting security and prosperity across the continent. Launched in October, it brings together existing EU members, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as Britain and Turkey.

Sunak seeks closer cooperation on measures to stop thousands of migrants crossing the Channel from France to England.

The UK and France signed an agreement in November to increase police patrols on beaches in northern France - with London agreeing to pay Paris 72.2 million euros in 2022-2023 - and Sunak hopes to cement further cooperation on Friday.

“Friday's talks will aim at making the small boat route across the Channel unviable, save lives and dismantle organised crime groups while preventing illegal migration further upstream," according to Sunak's office.

The UK announced contentious plans this week to detain and deport people arriving by small boat, but almost no country has agreed to accept any deportees. Soon after the meeting in Paris, however, will come a reminder of an issue that angered France.

Sunak will fly to the United States for a meeting with President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over a three-way defence deal struck in 2021 that saw Australia back out of an agreement to buy French submarines.