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North Korea confirmed its first coronavirus infections of the pandemic Thursday after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world, Associated Press reported.

The official Korean Central News Agency said tests of samples collected Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the omicron variant. 

In response, leader Kim Jong Un called for a thorough lockdown of cities and counties and said workplaces should be isolated by units to block the virus from spreading, KCNA said.

The country’s population of 26 million is believed to be mostly unvaccinated, after its government shunned vaccines offered by the UN-backed COVAX distribution program, possibly because those have international monitoring requirements, according to the Associated Press.

Kim during a ruling party Politburo meeting called for officials to stabilize transmissions and eliminate the infection source as fast as possible, while also easing the inconveniences to the public caused by the virus controls. Kim said “single-minded public unity is the most powerful guarantee that can win in this anti-pandemic fight,” KCNA said.

Despite the decision to elevate anti-virus steps, Kim ordered officials to push ahead with scheduled construction, agricultural development and other state projects while bolstering the country’s defense postures to avoid any security vacuum. 

North Korea’s announcement of the infections came after NK News, a North Korea-focused news site, cited unidentified sources who said authorities had imposed a lockdown on Pyongyang residents. South Korea’s government said it couldn’t confirm the report.

It isn’t immediately clear how large the North’s outbreak is. The North will likely double down on lockdowns, even though the failure of China’s “zero-COVID” approach suggests that approach doesn’t work against the fast-moving omicron variant, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University. 

“For Pyongyang to publicly admit omicron cases, the public health situation must be serious,” Easley said. “This does not mean North Korea is suddenly going to be open to humanitarian assistance and take a more conciliatory line toward Washington and Seoul. But the Kim regime’s domestic audience may be less interested in nuclear or missile tests when the urgent threat involves coronavirus rather than a foreign military.”

Experts say a major COVID-19 outbreak would be devastating in North Korea because of the poor health care system and could possibly trigger instability when combined with other problems like serious food shortages, Associated Press reported. 

North Korea’s previous coronavirus-free claim had been disputed by many foreign experts. But South Korean officials have said North Korea had likely avoided a huge outbreak, in part because it instituted strict virus controls almost from the start of the pandemic.

Early in 2020 — before the coronavirus spread around the world — North Korea took severe steps to keep out the virus and described them as a matter of “national existence.” It quarantined people with symptoms resembling COVID-19, all but halted cross-border traffic and trade for two years, and is even believed to have ordered troops to shoot on sight any trespassers who crossed its borders.

The extreme border closures further shocked an economy already damaged by decades of mismanagement and US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile program, pushing Kim to perhaps the toughest moment of his rule since he took power in 2011. 

North Korea had been one of the last places in the world without an acknowledged COVID-19 case after the virus first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 spread to every continent including Antarctica. Turkmenistan, a similarly secretive and authoritarian nation in Central Asia, has reported no cases to the World Health Organization, though its claim also is widely doubted by outside experts. 

In recent months, some Pacific island nations that kept the virus out by their geographic isolation have recorded outbreaks. Only tiny Tuvalu, with a population around 12,000, has escaped the virus so far, while a few other nations – Nauru, Micronesia and Marshall Islands – have stopped cases at their borders and avoided community outbreaks, according to the Associated Press.

The country's foreign exchange reserves have been found depleting despite several attempts by the government to discourage imports.

Foreign exchange reserves declined by Rs 2.8 billion in March/April.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, foreign exchange reserves stood at 1, 167.92 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

As of February, the foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1. 17 trillion.

The foreign exchange reserves have been decreasing steadily in recent times.

Nepal Rastra Bank said that the gross foreign exchange reserves decreased 16.5 percent to Rs1167.92 billion in mid-April 2022 from Rs1399.03 billion in mid-July 2021.

In US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves decreased 18.2 percent to 9.61 billion in mid-April 2022 from 11.75 billion in mid-July 2021.

Of the total foreign exchange reserves, the reserves held by Nepal Rastra Bank decreased 17.9 percent to Rs 1021.45 billion in mid-April 2022 from Rs 1244.63 billion in mid-July 2021.

The reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except NRB) decreased 5.1 percent to Rs 146.48 billion in mid-April 2022 from Rs 154.39 billion in mid-July 2021.

The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 24.3 percent in mid-April 2022.

 Based on the imports of nine months of 2021/22, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector is sufficient to cover the prospective merchandise imports of 7.4 months, and merchandise and services imports of 6.6 months.

The ratio of reserves-to-GDP, reserves-to-imports and reserves-to-M2 stood at 24.1 percent, 55.2 percent and 21.9 percent respectively in mid-April 2022.

Such ratios were 32.7 percent, 84.7 percent and 27.1 percent respectively in mid-July 2021.

Al Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American native of Jerusalem, was on assignment in the occupied West Bank when Israeli forces shot and killed her while wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word “PRESS”, Al Jazeera reports.

The veteran journalist, who was shot in the head, was a role model for generations of Arab journalists and a voice for the voiceless according to her colleagues and friends, having reported on Palestine and the surrounding region for three decades.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday delivered a split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape with one of the judges favouring striking down the provision, the other holding it was not unconstitutional, PTI reported. 

The division bench granted leave to the parties to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

While Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who headed the division bench, favoured striking down the marital rape exception, Justice C Hari Shankar said the exception under the IPC is not unconstitutional and was based on an intelligible differentia, according to PTI report. 
 

 The first and second volume of a collection of diplomatic speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping has been published by the Central Party Literature Press.

Compiled by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the book includes 136 speeches delivered at international events between March 2013 and November 2021 by Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Xi, as the chief architect of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, has delivered speeches on multiple international occasions, proposing a series of new ideas, new propositions and new initiatives with distinctive Chinese features, which reflect the call of the times and lead the trend of human progress.

They are a major part of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

They bear significant guidance for the establishment of a new type of international relations, the building of a global community of shared future, and creating a favorable international environment for realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Xinhua 

Even before up to 17.3m eligible voters line up to cast their ballots this Friday, a few inferences can be made. One is that the outcome of the May 13 vote will, to a large extent, determine the outcome of the forthcoming provincial and federal elections as well. In 2017, the local elections had suggested that the momentum was with the left coalition spearheaded by CPN-UML’s KP Oli. The coalition had captured 400 of the 753 mayor/chairperson seats—well ahead of Nepali Congress’s tally of 266. In the subsequent provincial and federal elections, the coalition bagged six of the seven provinces and garnered a near two-thirds majority at the center.

The Friday vote will also be a test of Nepali people’s willingness to overcome their bias. According to election analysts ApEx spoke to, around 60 percent of eligible voters are forecast to vote along party lines. But a surprise victory of a candidate from outside Nepali Congress and CPN-UML in a big metropolitan like Kathmandu, for instance, would signal a huge shift in the psyche of the Nepali voting public. The major parties will then be forced to rethink their plans (and tickets) for the two subsequent elections.

Do we the voting public really want meaningful and progressive social changes? The political parties have already cheated us by denying adequate number of tickets to women and marginalized communities. Yet unexpected wins for candidates of these communities will again force our major political forces to go back to the drawing board, to rethink their traditional way of ticket-distribution and electioneering. Overcoming communal, gender and political bias is never easy. But that is what we must do if a peaceful, prosperous and harmonious society is what we aspire for.

There must be clear signaling this Friday. The beauty of a functioning democracy is that if people speak, their representatives must listen. Vote then with a clear conscience. Vote for clean and competent candidates, even if you have to momentarily cross that inner Rubicon to do so. Vote to break the status quo.

Institute of Foreign Affairs, a government think-tank under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a discussion on ‘democracy and election: neighborhood experience.’ The discussion held on May 9 was attended by experts and journalists. 

In the beginning, Matrika Poudyal, spokesperson at IFA, presented the objectives and importance of the program. 

Elaborating on the status of elections and democracy in South Asian countries, Poudyal said sharing of ideas and opinions to make the election system more responsible and democratic has become a prominent topic.

Rajendra Pandey, acting executive director of IFA, shared his knowledge of various aspects of democracy and elections including international experiences. Pandey said IFA as a policy institute has continuously been organizing discussions on policy issues. 

Experts and journalists discussed electoral governance, the situation of democracy in South Asian countries, and other various aspects of election and democracy. Speaking at the program, journalist Kamal Dev Bhattarai stressed strengthening institutions to ensure free and fair elections, the cornerstone of democracy. 

He presented a comparative study of electoral governance in South Asian countries. Along with vibrant state institutions, strong media and civil society institutions can play a vital role to maintain the integrity of elections, he said.

Journalist Chandra Shekhar Adhikari said to ensure a vibrant democracy, countries of this region should take measures for electoral reform. Adhikari was of the view that political influence on the functioning of the EC is posing a threat to free elections. 

Journalist Ritu Raj Subdei said that political parties are using money to influence the voting pattern. The first step towards free and fair elections is reform in the political parties, he said. Journalist Salik Subedi highlighted the key factors that contribute to strengthening democracy. He further talked about the close interlink between election and democracy. 

Political scientist Chandra Dev Bhatt highlighted the various facets of democracy and election. He said that only holding regular elections does not guarantee a deep-rooted democracy. Journalist Jagdishwar Pandey stressed creating vibrant institutions in order to embolden democracy. We have to guarantee the autonomy of institutions that are mandated for holding the elections which are not happening, he said. 

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 070 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 18 returned positive. Likewise, 718 people underwent antigen tests, of which three were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 16 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 127 active cases in the country.