Olympics in Tokyo ‘are off until 2021’

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The Olympic rings are seen near the Statue of Liberty replica at Tokyo's Odaiba district on March 23, 2020. (AFP / Behrouz Mehri)
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Updated 25 March 2020
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Olympics in Tokyo ‘are off until 2021’

  • The event is scheduled for July 24-Aug. 9. Olympic body, Japan promise decision within month
  • Canada and Australia both bluntly said they would not participate this year

JEDDAH: Olympics chiefs have postponed the 2020 Games due to begin in Tokyo in July, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said on Monday.

Australia and Canada had already withdrawn earlier in the day as organizers came under global pressure to call off the event because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

The event, scheduled for July 24-Aug. 9, is now likely to be held in 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks.

More than 337,000 people worldwide have been infected by the novel coronavirus and over 14,600 have died in a pandemic that the World Health Organization said was accelerating.

The IOC and the Japanese government have both edged back from weeks of blanket insistence the Games would go ahead, announcing a month-long consultation on scenarios including postponement.

The Olympics have never been delayed before, though they were canceled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during the two world wars, and major Cold War boycotts disrupted the Moscow and Los Angeles Games in 1980 and 1984.

Canada and Australia both bluntly said they would not participate this year. “We are in the midst of a global health crisis that is far more significant than sport,” said Canada’s Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee.

“The moment the IOC indicates that it is thinking about other solutions, it has already decided to delay the Games,” said French Olympic Committee President Denis Masseglia.
Canada and Australia both bluntly said they would not participate this year. 

“We are in the midst of a global health crisis that is far more significant than sport,” said Canada’s Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) also told its athletes to prepare for a Tokyo Games in 2021.

“Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive attitude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertainty have been extremely challenging for them,” said Australia’s Olympics Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman.

Paralympic athletes were considered at particular risk from the epidemic given some had underlying health problems.

Various nations urged a quick decision from the IOC, which is led by its powerful president, Thomas Bach, a German lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion.


ALSO READ: Canada, Australia pull out of 2020 Tokyo Olympics




Sad but supportive

Athletes were broadly supportive of postponing the Games, though sad at seeing their dreams in doubt.

“Competing in the Olympics is my #1 goal but I fully support this decision and I commend our leadership for taking a stand,” tweeted Canadian tennis player Gabriela Dabrowski.

Only a few dissented, reigning Pan American 400 meters hurdles champion Sage Watson calling Canada’s move “premature.”

Monday’s announcements followed growing pressure from big stakeholders including US Track and Field, UK Athletics and other national Olympic committees.

“An Olympic Games in July this year is neither feasible nor desirable,” World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe said. “We owe it to our athletes to give them respite where we can.”

Japan’s government seemed to be bowing to the inevitable despite the massive losses and logistics headaches it would face.


'No option but to postpone




Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori, IOC chief Thomas Bach and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the ‘One Year to Go ceremony.’ (Reuters file photo) 


Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament that if holding the event as planned was too difficult, “we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games, given the Olympic principle of putting the health of athletes first.”

Abe has staked his legacy as Japan’s longest-serving premier on the Games and was hoping for a boom in tourism and consumer spending. At risk is more than $3 billion in domestic sponsorship. But finding a new date could be complicated as the summer 2021 calendar is already crowded, while 2022 will see the soccer World Cup and the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Japanese sponsors, from Toyota Motor Corp. to Panasonic Corp, were nervously watching.

But Tokyo stocks sensitive to the success of the Olympics surged on Monday, after sharp falls in prior weeks, thanks to expectations of a delay rather than a cancelation.

Postponement is a potential major blow to the IOC’s prestige and power after its insistence the Games would go ahead.

Many athletes already felt disrespected during the Russian doping scandal when Bach ensured Russians could carry on competing, albeit as neutrals. 

And his iron grip on the IOC could weaken after various national committees at the weekend distanced themselves from his stance over Tokyo. He is up for re-election in 2021.

(With Reuters)


Pakistan says UNSC inaction over Gaza crisis is setting ‘dangerous precedent’

Updated 2 min 52 sec ago
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Pakistan says UNSC inaction over Gaza crisis is setting ‘dangerous precedent’

  • The statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday
  • Envoy says Pakistan refuses to be part of ‘this moral bankruptcy,’ demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) has said the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) inaction over a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is setting a “dangerous precedent,” the Pakistani mission said on Friday, questioning Israel’s violation of the UN charter, international law and a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The statement came during an open briefing at the UNSC on the situation in Palestinian territories, which was convened by Algeria with the support of Pakistan, China, Somalia and Russia.
Pakistan’s Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the UNSC’s failure to implement its resolutions not only undermines the institution, but also erodes the international order built on the UN Charter.
“What is happening before our eyes is a travesty. It is unacceptable. The council must act. We cannot be part of a body that remains a mere spectator and does nothing,” he said.
“We refuse to be part of this moral bankruptcy, and what our Slovenian colleague referred to as ‘erosion of humanity’.”
The statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 27 or more sheltering at a school, according to Palestinian medical authorities, in a stepped-up offensive that Israel’s military said is intended to pressure Hamas. More than 30 other Gaza residents were killed in strikes on homes in the nearby neighborhood of Shijaiyah.
The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into force on January 19 after 15 months of war, which began after Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel said on March 19 that its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip. It also announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, asking residents to evacuate targeted areas. UN humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas last month.
The fresh evacuation orders came a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it. To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.
Ambassador Ahmad lamented that Gaza has descended into an “abyss of suffering,” which is manifested from the way unarmed civilians including children, women, humanitarian workers, UN personnel and journalists as well as civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools are being attacked indiscriminately.
“Nothing is spared, not even the historic cultural sites. It is total annihilation, a situation where fundamental principles of humanitarian law are being disregarded with impunity,” he said.
Since breaking the ceasefire last month, the Pakistan UN envoy said, Israel has killed over 1,100 Palestinians, adding to the more than 50,000 killed between October 2023 and January 2025.
“This is not just warfare, it is the systematic destruction of a people,” he said.
He drew the council’s attention to Israel’s blockade of all border crossings, barring humanitarian aid with no food or medical supplies being allowed into Gaza.
“Starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime,” he lamented.
The Pakistani envoy strongly condemned the deliberate targeting of aid convoys, including the killing of 15 humanitarian workers on March 23, saying that more than 400 humanitarian workers, including 284 UNRWA personnel, have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“When UN staff and humanitarian workers are gunned down with impunity, we must ask: what remains of the global order we built from the ashes of World War II? ”
Ambassador Ahmad also said that Israel’s intent to permanently colonize and annex the occupied West Bank is alarming and unacceptable.
“Equally concerning are Israel’s plans to seize territory in Gaza, including the establishment of a so-called ‘security corridor’,” he said. “This would constitute a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law.”
Ambassador Ahmad called upon the UNSC and the international community to go beyond “rhetorical condemnations” to concrete action, including immediate halt to hostilities and full implementation of the January 19 ceasefire in Gaza, lifting of Israel’s blockade to ensure unrestricted humanitarian aid, preventing forced removal of Palestinians or annexation of their land, and reviving a “credible peace process.”
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders. The South Asian country has consistently called for a cessation of Israeli military campaign in Gaza and dispatched more than two dozen aid consignments for the Palestinian people since Israel began pounding Gaza in Oct. 2023.


Rubio tries to reassure wary allies of US commitment to NATO as Trump sends mixed signals

Updated 36 min 25 sec ago
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Rubio tries to reassure wary allies of US commitment to NATO as Trump sends mixed signals

  • “President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO,” the top US diplomat tells NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels
  • America's allies needed Rubio's reassurance as US firepower ensures that NATO’s ability to deter Russia is credible

BRUSSELS: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration’s new envoy to NATO are seeking to reassure wary members of the US commitment to the alliance.
Rubio on Thursday decried “hysteria and hyperbole” in the media about US President Donald Trump’s intentions, despite persistent signals from Washington that NATO as it has existed for 75 years may no longer be relevant.
Rubio and newly confirmed US ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker are in Brussels for a meeting of alliance foreign ministers at which many are hoping Rubio will shed light on US security plans in Europe.
“The United States is as active in NATO as it has ever been,” Rubio told reporters as he greeted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte before the meeting began. “And some of this hysteria and hyperbole that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted.”
“President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO,” Rubio said. “We’re going to remain in NATO.”
“We want NATO to be stronger, we want NATO to be more visible and the only way NATO can get stronger, more visible is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability,” he said.
Whitaker said in a statement that “under President Trump’s leadership, NATO will be stronger and more effective than ever before, and I believe that a robust NATO can continue to serve as a bedrock of peace and prosperity.” But he added: “NATO’s vitality rests on every ally doing their fair share.”

Concerns about US commitment to allies
Despite those words, European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat as the US tries to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as his rhetorical attacks and insults against allies like Canada and Denmark.
Rubio and Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen met on the sidelines of the meeting. They didn’t respond to a shouted question about Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark which Trump has his eye on, but they smiled and shook hands in front of US and Danish flags.
Trump’s imposition of new global tariffs, which will affect allies, have also added to the uncertainty and unease.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned that NATO’s unity is “being tested by the decisions taken and announced yesterday (Wednesday) by President Trump.”
Asked about concerns among European allies about a possible US troop drawdown and the importance of getting clear messages from the Trump administration, Rutte said: “These issues are not new. There are no plans for them to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe.”
Indeed, the Trump administration hasn’t made its NATO allies aware any plans that it might have. But several European countries are convinced that US troops and equipment will be withdrawn, and they want to find out from Rubio how many and when so they can fill any security gaps.
“We need to preempt a rapid retreat, but we’ve had nothing precise from the US yet,” a senior NATO diplomat said before the meeting, briefing reporters on his country’s expectations on condition that he not be named.
In Washington, the chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee criticized “mid-level” leadership at the Pentagon for what he branded as a misguided plan to “reduce drastically” the number of US troops based in Europe. The US Defense Department hasn’t made public any such proposal.
“They’ve been working to pursue a US retreat from Europe and they’ve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense,” US Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said at a hearing with US European Command and US Africa Command military leadership.
It wasn’t immediately clear what “mid-level bureaucrats” Wicker was talking about.
Rutte’s dilemma
NATO’s secretary-general is in a bind. European allies and Canada have tasked him with keeping the United States firmly in NATO. Around 100,000 US troops are stationed in Europe along with the Navy’s 6th Fleet and nuclear warheads. US firepower ensures that NATO’s ability to deter Russia is credible.
This means he can’t openly criticize Trump, who is commander in chief of the United States, NATO’s biggest and best-equipped armed forces.
What is clear is that US allies must ramp up defense spending even more than they already have since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, so that they can defend Europe with less American help and keep Ukraine’s armed forces in the fight.
“The US expects European allies to take more responsibility for their own security,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, which means that “European NATO countries rapidly have to strengthen the European pillar of NATO and have to increase their defense spending.”
Since US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that American security priorities lie elsewhere — in Asia and on the United States’ own borders — the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen.
In Europe and Canada, governments are working on “burden shifting” plans to take over more of the load, while trying to ensure that no security vacuum is created if US troops and equipment are withdrawn from the continent.


Pakistan deputy PM directs authorities to finalize investment proposals with ‘friendly countries’

Updated 54 min 57 sec ago
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Pakistan deputy PM directs authorities to finalize investment proposals with ‘friendly countries’

  • Ishaq Dar chairs meeting on Pakistan’s investment proposals with friendly countries, says state media
  • Says participants reviewed potential investments in infrastructure, petroleum, trade, and IT sectors

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar this week directed authorities to finalize selected proposals to bolster trade and investment with “friendly countries,” state-run media reported. 

Islamabad has increasingly eyed foreign trade and investment that benefits its priority sectors in a bid to bolster its fragile $350 billion economy. 

It formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) government body in 2023 to attract foreign investment in agriculture, livestock, mining and minerals, energy, tourism and other sectors from China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Central Asian countries and other Gulf states. 

“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (DPM/FM) Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday directed that selected proposals should be finalized, reaffirming Pakistan’s priority to bolster economic, trade, and investment ties with friendly countries,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

Dar issued the instructions while chairing the fourth inter-ministerial meeting on Pakistan’s investment project proposals with friendly countries, APP said. 

“During the meeting, the committee reviewed briefs on potential investments in key sectors, including infrastructure, petroleum, trade, and information technology (IT),” the state-run media said. 

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries Pakistan has aggressively pushed to forge closer business and investment deals with in recent months. 

The two countries signed 34 business agreements last year for a whopping $2.8 billion. Sharif’s office said seven out of 34 MoUs signed with Saudi Arabia had been actualized into agreements worth $560 million. 

In April 2024, the Kingdom also pledged to expedite a $5 billion investment portfolio for Islamabad.

Pakistan hopes foreign trade and investment deals with allies will help shore its foreign reserves and strengthen its fiscal position weakened considerably by a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.  


Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic

Updated 04 April 2025
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Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic

  • Trump dismissed the turmoil, insisting, “It’s going to be a booming economy. It’s going to be amazing”
  • “Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” says commerce chief amid howls of protest even from some Republicans

WASHINGTON: Wall Street led a global markets bloodbath Thursday as countries around the world reeled from President Donald Trump’s trade war, while the White House insisted the US economy will emerge victorious.
The S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent in its biggest loss since 2020. The tech-rich Nasdaq plummeted 6.0 percent and the Dow Jones 4.0 percent.
Shock waves also tore through markets in Asia and Europe in the wake of Trump’s Wednesday announcement, while foreign leaders signaled readiness to negotiate but also threatened counter-tariffs.
Trump slapped 10 percent import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries — including top trade partners China and the European Union.
Separate tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made cars also went into effect and Canada swiftly responded with a similar levy on US imports.
Stellantis — the owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat — paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.
Trump dismissed the turmoil, insisting to reporters as he left for a weekend at his Florida golf resorts, that stocks will “boom.”

 

 

The 78-year-old president says he wants to make the United States free from reliance on foreign manufacturers, in a massive economic reshaping that he likened to a medical procedure.
“It’s what is expected,” he said of the market reaction. “The patient was very sick. The economy had a lot of problems.”
“It went through an operation. It’s going to be a booming economy. It’s going to be amazing.”

Trump ‘knows what he’s doing’

Amid howls of protest abroad and from even some of Trump’s Republicans, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged patience.
“Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” he said on CNN. “You’ve got to trust Donald Trump in the White House.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick leaves after doing a television interview outside the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP) 

But China demanded that the tariffs be immediately canceled and vowed countermeasures, while France and Germany warned that the EU could hit back at US tech firms.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for suspending investment in the United States until what he called the “brutal” new tariffs had been “clarified.”
The 27-nation EU and other countries also sought to negotiate as they refrained from immediate retaliation.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for “frank discussion on the substance with the Americans.”
Beijing said it was “maintaining communication” with Washington over trade issues, and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic planned to speak with US counterparts on Friday.
However, Brazil’s president vowed to take “all appropriate measures.”
Gold — a safe-haven investment — hit a new record price, oil fell and the dollar slumped against other major currencies.
The head of the World Trade Organization, which helps manage global trading, warned the upheaval may lead to contraction of “one percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year.”

 

 

’You can’t fight the US’

Trump is brushing off warnings about triggering a global economic slowdown and politically damaging price rises at home.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks with Trump, slamming tariffs as “bad policy.”
“Preserving the long-term prosperity of American industry and workers requires working with our allies, not against them,” he said.
It remains unclear to what extent Trump is using the tariffs shock to engage in negotiations on trade deals — or whether he really intends to try to force all competitors to play by US rules.
He said he would negotiate “as long as they are giving something that is good.”
But earlier, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN that the president made it clear that “this is not a negotiation.”
And Lutnick also struck a hard line, saying, “You can’t really fight with the United States.”
“You’re going to lose. We are the sumo wrestler of this world.”

Trump reserved some of the heaviest blows for what he called “nations that treat us badly.”
That included an additional 34 percent on goods from China — bringing the new added tariff rate there to 54 percent.
The figure for the European Union was 20 percent, and 24 percent on Japan.
For the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including on another key ally, Britain, which will come into effect on Saturday while the higher duties will kick in on April 9.
 


South Korea court upholds President Yoon’s impeachment, strips him of office

Updated 04 April 2025
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South Korea court upholds President Yoon’s impeachment, strips him of office

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil by declaring martial law and sending troops to parliament in an ill-fated effort to break through legislative gridlock.
The unanimous verdict comes more than three months after the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon. South Korea must now hold a national election within two months to find a new president. Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favorite to become the country’s next president.
At an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace that dominates downtown Seoul, People erupted into jubilant tears and dancing when the verdict was announced. Two women wept as they hugged and an old man near them leapt to his feet and screamed with joy.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment plunged the country into political turmoil, with millions taking to the streets to denounce or support him. Many experts say Yoon supporters will likely intensify their rallies in the wake of the court’s decision, prolonging national division.
After abruptly declaring martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly. He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
Enough lawmakers eventually managed to get in and voted to strike down Yoon’s decree unanimously.
The National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon Dec. 14, accusing him of violating the constitution and other laws by suppressing assembly activities, attempting to detain politicians, and undermining peace across the country.