1. China bans export of key petroleum products to North Korea.
China said on Saturday it will ban exports of some petroleum products to North Korea, as well as imports of textiles from the isolated North, in line with a UN Security Council resolution passed after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.
The announcement from Beijing came at the end of a week that saw tensions ratchet up between the United States and North Korea, with the leaders of both countries trading insults.
The ministry of commerce said in a statement on its website that China would limit exports of refined petroleum products from 1 October and ban exports of condensates and liquefied natural gas immediately to comply with the latest UN sanctions. Imports of textiles from North Korea would also be banned immediately, the statement said.
Textile trade contracts signed before 11 September would be respected if import formalities are completed before midnight on 10 December, the statement said.
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The moves follow the adoption of a unanimous UN Security Council agreement on sanctions after the isolated North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on 3 September. That resolution imposed a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels.
Russia urged calm on Friday after US President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a “madman”. Kim had called Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” a day earlier after Trump said Washington would “totally destroy” North Korea if it threatened the US or its allies.
Trump announced new US sanctions on Thursday that he said allows the targeting of companies and institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea. US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin also said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to operate in the US.
China has also urged calm, with foreign minister Wang Yi telling his Japanese counterpart that Tokyo should not abandon dialogue over North Korea.
North Korea has launched dozens of missiles this year, several of them flying over Japan, as it accelerates a weapons programme aimed at enabling it to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.
The US and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty. The North accuses the US, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.
2. Australia announces new space agency to develop domestic space industry.
Australia will establish a national space agency as part of long-term plan to develop the country’s domestic space industry, a government minister said on Monday. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham made the announcement at the International Astronautical Congress, a five-day event being held in the Australian city of Adelaide.
“This agency will be the anchor for our domestic coordination and the front door for our international engagement with so many of you across the world’s space industries,” Birmingham said. He did not say where the agency would be located.
The global space industry sector has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.52 percent from 1998 to 2015, the government said last month. “Globally, revenue from space-related activities in 2015 was about US$323 billion,” it said. The five-day Congress is expected to draw more than 4,000 space professionals, including astronauts, engineers, scientists and innovators, from all over the world, according to the congress website.
3. Pakistan,Russia begin joint military drills DRUZBA 2017.
A two-week long joint exercise named ‘DRUZBA (Friendship) 2017’ between the special forces of Pakistan and Russian armies kicked off in Minralney Vody, Russia on Monday, according to an official handout issued by the Pakistan Army.
The opening ceremony was attended by senior military officials of special forces of both the countries, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). It said the joint exercise would focus on counter terrorism operations, hostage and rescue, cordon and search operations.
“The joint exercise will enhance and further strengthen military ties between both the countries and share Pakistan Army’s experience in war against terrorism,” the statement added.
The exercise is taking place at a time when Pakistan is recalibrating its foreign policy options in the wake of last month’s new strategy announced by President Donald Trump for Afghanistan and South Asia.
How Russia came to Pakistan’s help
Pakistan now considers Russia as key regional player in the new scheme of things in order to offset the possible negative fallout of Trump’s new road map.
Both Pakistan and Russia appear to be on the same page on Afghanistan as they have been calling for political solution to the long running conflict.
There have been greater exchanges between the two former cold-war rivals in recent years. Russian and Pakistani foreign ministers recently met on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session in New York.
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Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is also expected to travel to Russia in the first week of October, a development which further underlines the growing ties between the two countries.
China, Russia to ‘veto any US move at UN to slap sanctions on Pakistan’
Relations between Pakistan and Russia have seen unprecedented growth in last few years after the two sides realised that the current geo-strategic situation required greater interaction between the two countries. In October last year, the two countries held their first-ever joint military exercise in Pakistan.
The joint military drill is seen as another step in growing military-to-military cooperation, indicating a steady growth in bilateral relationship between the two countries, whose ties had been marred by Cold War rivalry for decades.
4. 7th ASEM Economic Minister’s Meeting Held in South Korea.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed left Dhaka for Seoul, South Korea to attend the 7th ASEM (Asia and Europe Meeting) Economic Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM EMM) early yesterday.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed left here for South Korea last night to attend the seventh ASEM Economic Ministers` Meeting (EMM) to be held in Seoul on September 21-22.
Around 400 representitives ? including trade and economic ministers of Asian and European countries ? will gather in Seoul in September to discuss measures for the region`s economic growth.
The seventh ASEM Economic Ministers` Meeting (ASEM EMM) will be held from September 21 to 22.
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ASEM, or the Asia-Europe Meeting, has been discussing measures to strengthen ties between Asian and European countries since its launch in 1994. ASEM is comprised of 22 Asian and 31 European countries, including ASEAN and the European Union, and accounts for 59 per cent of the world`s population, 65 per cent of global trade and 57 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP).
On top of the ASEM summit, which is held every two years, there are ministerial meetings related to foreign affairs, finance, culture, and trade and economy.
ASEM EMM was especially dedicated to facilitating and expanding regional trade and investment and strengthening economic cooperation, but it has been suspended since 2005, when the sixth gathering was held in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
5. World Tourism Day is observed on September 27.
About World Tourism Day
World Tourism Day is commemorated each year on 27 September. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to highlight the contribution the tourism industry can make in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, invites all interested parties to take part on 27 September each year in the special celebrations taking place in their respective country or holiday destination.
World Tourism Day theme and official celebrations
World Tourism Day is celebrated with appropriate events on themes selected by the UNWTO General Assembly, on the recommendation of the UNWTO Executive Council.
The UNWTO Secretary-General issues a message each year to mark the occasion and chairs the official celebrations.
Previous World Tourism Day Celebrations
Establishment of World Tourism Day
It was at its third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), that the UNWTO General Assembly decided to institute World Tourism Day, commencing in the year 1980. This date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970.
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The timing of World Tourism Day is particularly appropriate in that it comes at the end of the high season in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere.
Declaration of 2017 as International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development
On 22 December 2015, during its 70th session, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development through its resolution A/RES/70/193, in which it “encourages all States, the United Nations system and all other actors to take advantage of the International Year to promote actions at all levels, including through international cooperation, and to support sustainable tourism as a means of promoting and accelerating sustainable development, especially poverty eradication.”