South

First troops touch down nearly a month after President Ramaphosa said organised crime threatened country’s democracy.

Soldiers have been deployed on the streets of South Africa’s biggest city nearly a month after the president announced the army would work alongside the police to tackle high levels of crime.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual State of the Nation address on February 12 that organised crime was the “most immediate threat” to South Africa’s democracy and economic development.

On Wednesday, troops touched down on the streets of Eldorado Park, a working class suburb in the country’s economic capital, Johannesburg, that has high levels of crime and gang violence.

Local media published pictures of armoured vehicles rolling into the area, and the Independent Online reported that local councillor Juwairiya Kaldine welcomed their arrival.

Soldiers were also seen in the Johannesburg suburb of Riverlea. Media reports said the soldiers were searching door-to-door.

South Africa’s national police service and the Department of Defence, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment. But the president said last month that the army will help the police service fight gang violence and illegal mining.

Ramaphosa said in a notice to the speaker of parliament that 550 soldiers would be involved in an initial deployment in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, to help combat crime and preserve law and order.

That deployment would last until the end of April, he said.

The government plans a wider deployment in five of its nine provinces, according to details submitted by police to parliament.

The deployment will focus on illegal mining in the Gauteng, North West and Free State provinces, and gang violence in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

Parts of the national deployment could last more than a year, police officials said.

South Africa has high rates of violent crime. Police reported 6,351 homicides from October to December 2025, an average of nearly 70 a day in a country of about 63 million people.

However, not all residents of crime-affected communities are pleased about the plan to deploy the army.

In the Cape Flats, an impoverished area of the Western Cape with high levels of gang violence, where troops will also likely deploy, people told Al Jazeera last month that the military will not help fix the root causes of the violence or the social ills that make it easy to recruit people into gangs.

“It’s a very dangerous thing to bring the army because there’s an impatience with the fact that the police are not doing their job,” Irvin Kinnes, an associate professor with the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Criminology, told Al Jazeera at the time, calling the move “political”.

“It’s to show that the political leaders have kind of heard the public. But the call for the army hasn’t come from the community. It’s come from politicians,” he said.

Frustrated players say they were left in the dark for days over their travel while England flew out within two days.

Cricket’s governing body has rejected suggestions of unequal treatment after the West Indies and South Africa squads were stranded in India for more than a week following their exit from the T20 World Cup, while England flew out in less than two days.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been accused of giving preferential treatment to one team over the other two amid the travel chaos resulting from airspace closures and rerouted flights because of the war in the Middle East.

However, the ICC said on Wednesday it “rejects any suggestion that these decisions have been driven by anything other than safety, feasibility and welfare”.

“We understand that players, coaches, support staff and their families who have completed their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaigns are anxious to return home,” it said in a statement.

Cricket West Indies said on Tuesday its squad had waited nine days for a charter flight that was “repeatedly delayed”, calling the uncertainty “increasingly distressing”.

West Indies ‌players were leaving India on commercial flights in batches 10 days after their scheduled departure, which led to frustrated players airing their thoughts in social media posts.

The ICC said nine West Indies players and staff members were already travelling to the Caribbean, with the remaining 16 booked on flights departing India within 24 hours.

Indian media reported that a charter flight for the West Indies and South ⁠Africa Twenty20 World Cup teams scheduled to fly to Johannesburg before continuing on to Antigua was cancelled earlier on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, South Africa, who have been stranded in ⁠India since March 4, will begin to fly home on Wednesday, with the entire contingent ⁠departing in the next 36 hours, the ICC said.

England flew home ‌less than two days after being beaten in the semifinals, prompting criticism of the ICC from the South African and West Indian camps.

Darren Sammy, head coach of West Indies, began venting his frustration on social media on the fifth day since his team’s exit from the T20 World Cup.

“I just wanna go home,” he wrote on X, followed by another tweet requesting an update after being left in the dark for five days.

Three days after South Africa were knocked out, in the first semifinal, their players Quinton De Kock and David Miller said the team had heard nothing from the ICC regarding their departure while England, who were eliminated a day later in the second semifinal had already left.

“England are leaving before us somehow?! Strange how different teams have more pull than others,” De Kock wrote in an Instagram story.

Miller, commenting on a post announcing England’s departure, said: “It doesn’t take the ICC long to organise England charter. WI have been waiting for 7 days for a charter and SA coming on 4 days now. And yet we still wait.”

The ICC said the criticism was “incorrect” and that there was no comparison between arrangements for South Africa and the West Indies and those made for England, “which arose from separate circumstances, routing options and different travel conditions”.

“Throughout this period, the ICC’s overriding ⁠priority has been the safety and welfare of everyone affected,” the sport’s global governing body said.

“We will not move people until we are satisfied that the travel ‌solution in place is safe, and that commitment will not change.”

March 10 (Asia Today) — President Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday the government may prepare an early supplementary budget to cushion the economic impact of rising energy prices linked to the Middle East conflict.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, Lee said additional fiscal measures could be necessary to support small businesses, struggling companies and vulnerable households if global energy shocks continue.

“To provide fiscal assistance and support for small business owners and vulnerable firms, we may inevitably need an early supplementary budget,” Lee said.

Lee also called for targeted support for lower-income households rather than a blanket reduction in fuel taxes as oil prices surge.

The president instructed officials to accelerate additional financial and fiscal measures, including a petroleum price cap system, adjustments to energy taxes and direct assistance to consumers.

“We must mobilize all national capabilities to minimize the impact of external shocks on people’s livelihoods, the economy and industry,” Lee said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Koo Yoon-cheol said the government could potentially finance the supplementary budget without issuing new government bonds.

He cited improving conditions in the semiconductor industry and increased fiscal resources linked to stronger activity in the stock market.

Lee also addressed concerns over reports that United States Forces Korea may remove some air defense assets from the country amid the regional conflict.

“If you ask whether this seriously undermines our deterrence strategy against North Korea, the answer is no,” Lee said.

He acknowledged that South Korea had expressed opposition to the partial withdrawal of air defense systems but noted that the United States may reposition some assets based on its broader military needs.

Foreign media have reported that systems such as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and Patriot missile batteries could be redeployed.

Lee emphasized that South Korea’s defense spending remains among the highest in the world and said the country’s military readiness remains strong.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260311010002954

An Israeli air strike has heavily damaged a building in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district as Israeli forces continue to attack across the area. The army says it is targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure and has warned residents south of the Litani river to leave.

SEOUL, March 9 (UPI) — The United States and South Korea began their annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise on Monday, as speculation swirled that Washington may be shifting some military assets from the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East amid its widening conflict with Iran.

About 18,000 South Korean troops will participate in the exercise, which runs through March 19 and includes command-post simulations and field training drills. U.S. Forces Korea has not disclosed the number of American personnel involved.

The drills come as local media reports have raised questions about whether U.S. military equipment stationed in South Korea could be redeployed to support operations in the Middle East.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday that U.S. C-5 and C-17 transport aircraft landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, late last month before departing between Wednesday and Saturday.

The aircraft movements followed reports that U.S. Forces Korea relocated some Patriot missile defense systems to Osan from other American bases in the country.

Two Patriot batteries deployed with USFK were temporarily rotated to the Middle East in June last year during strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, before returning to South Korea in October.

The Patriot system detects, tracks and intercepts drones, cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles at low- to mid-range altitudes. It forms a key component of South Korea’s layered missile defense network designed to counter threats from North Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea said last week it could not comment on the relocation or movement of its assets due to operational security.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry also declined to address the reports directly during a briefing Monday.

“There is constant communication between the U.S. military and our side,” ministry spokeswoman Jeong Bit-na told reporters. “We are always communicating closely to ensure that there are no security concerns or gaps.”

She added that the Freedom Shield exercise was proceeding as planned.

“The South Korea-U.S. joint exercise is being implemented normally regardless of the situation in the Middle East, and we are thoroughly implementing it as agreed and planned,” Jeong said.

The drills come as the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung seeks to stabilize relations with Pyongyang, which routinely condemns the allies’ joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion.

The number of field training exercises during this year’s Freedom Shield has been reduced to 22, down from 51 conducted during the previous iteration of the drills under the conservative government of impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

North Korea recently concluded a major congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, where leader Kim Jong Un pledged to expand the country’s nuclear arsenal and improve its delivery systems and operational capabilities.

At the same time, Kim appeared to leave the door open to future negotiations with the United States, saying there was “no reason” the two sides could not improve relations if Washington abandons what he described as its hostile policy.

Kim has previously said he has “fond memories” of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he met three times during Trump’s first term. South Korean officials have pointed to Trump’s planned visit to China later this month as a possible opportunity to revive diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Kim has continued to take a hostile tone toward Seoul, however, recently describing South Korea as “the most hostile entity.”

Thousands of civilians have fled an opposition stronghold in eastern South Sudan after the army ordered evacuations to clear the way for a military offensive, the latest sign that the country’s fragile peace is unravelling, as fears of a return to all-out civil war haunt the world’s youngest nation.

The town of Akobo, near the Ethiopian border, was almost completely emptied by Sunday after the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces issued an ultimatum on Friday demanding that civilians, aid workers and United Nations peacekeepers leave ahead of a planned assault.

“The town is now almost empty,” said Nhial Lew, a local humanitarian official. “Women, children and the elderly have left and crossed into Ethiopia.” By Sunday evening, he could hear the conflict closing in. “We are hearing the sound of machine guns approaching,” he told the Associated Press news agency.

The army’s deadline was set to expire Monday afternoon.

The order extends a government counteroffensive, launched in January and dubbed Operation Enduring Peace, that has already displaced more than 280,000 people across Jonglei state since December, when opposition forces began seizing government positions.

The UN’s Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned of a possible “return to full-scale war” if the country’s leadership didn’t take the challenges it faces more seriously.

“Preventing further mass atrocity crimes, institutional collapse, and the destruction of South Sudan’s fragile transition requires urgent coordinated national, regional and international re-engagement,” the report said.

Akobo, which had been considered a relatively safe haven and sheltered more than 82,000 displaced people, is one of the last remaining strongholds of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, or SPLM-IO, the armed movement loyal to South Sudan’s detained former vice president, Riek Machar.

Two UN flights evacuated most humanitarian staff on Sunday, though the International Committee of the Red Cross had not yet pulled its personnel from a surgical unit it runs at the local hospital, where wounded patients were still being treated.

“We are worried for our patients,” said Dual Diew, the county health director. “We tried to make a plan to take them to a safer location, but we don’t have enough fuel.”

The offensive comes amid a wider breakdown of the 2018 peace agreement that ended a civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing Machar, a conflict that killed an estimated 400,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

Machar has been under house arrest in the capital, Juba, since March 2025, facing charges of treason and murder that his supporters say are politically motivated.

His detention coincided with a sharp rise in armed opposition activity, and a UN inquiry has since found that South Sudan’s leaders have been “systematically dismantling” the accord.

Conflicts have taken place across the country among groups associated with the two factions, said Jan Pospisil, a South Sudan researcher who spoke to Al Jazeera.

Dozens killed in the north

On Sunday, at least 169 people were killed, among them 90 civilians, including women and children, when armed men stormed a village in Abiemnom county in the country’s north.

The local administrator blamed the attack on elements of the White Army, a militia historically allied to Machar, alongside SPLM-IO-affiliated forces. The group denied any involvement. More than 1,000 people sought shelter at a UN base in the area.

“Such violence places civilians at grave risk and must stop immediately,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho of the UN mission in South Sudan.

Aid organisations operating in the conflict zone have also been targeted, with Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, saying on Monday that 26 of its staff remain unaccounted for, a month after a government air strike destroyed its hospital in the town of Lankien and a separate facility in Pieri was looted.

Staff who had been reached described “destruction, violence and extreme hardships”. It was the 10th attack on an MSF facility in 12 months.

“Medical workers must never be targets,” said Yashovardhan, the charity’s head of mission in South Sudan, who uses only one name.

Pospisil said the crisis had exposed the fragility of Kiir’s hold on power.

“The state is literally falling apart,” Pospisil said, referring to the convergence of conflict in the country and the elderly state of the president, whose condition has raised questions.

Pospisil added that the outcome of Machar’s ongoing trial would likely shape what comes next.

March 6 (Asia Today) — South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating rose to 65%, matching its highest level since he took office, according to a new national poll released Thursday.

A survey conducted by Korea Gallup from Monday through Wednesday among 1,001 adults nationwide found 65% of respondents approved of Lee’s job performance, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Negative evaluations fell 1 point to 25%.

The poll shows Lee’s approval rating has increased steadily in recent weeks, rising from 63% in mid-February to 64% in late February and reaching 65% in the latest survey.

The figure matches the peak level recorded in early July shortly after Lee’s administration began, marking a return to the highest level in about eight months.

Regionally, approval exceeded 60% in most parts of the country, except in the conservative strongholds of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, where support stood at 49%, and Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province, where it reached 58%.

Support was strongest in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, where Lee recorded a 94% approval rating.

Across age groups, approval ratings exceeded 50% among all generations. Support was highest among voters in their 40s at 79% and those in their 50s at 77%. Among centrist voters, approval reached 70%.

Respondents who evaluated Lee positively most frequently cited economic and livelihood policies at 18%, followed by real estate policy at 16% and foreign policy at 11%.

Among those with negative views, the most common reasons included dissatisfaction with real estate and economic policies at 13%, concerns about changes to laws at 8% and criticism of authoritarian leadership at 7%.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260306010001693

March 6 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.0% in February from a year earlier, extending a six-month run of inflation at or above 2% as officials warned that rising oil prices linked to Middle East tensions could add fresh upward pressure in coming weeks.

The consumer price index stood at 118.40 in February, government data showed Thursday. The annual increase matched January’s rate and met the government’s inflation target, but the February figures did not yet fully reflect the late-month jump in global oil prices after the regional conflict intensified.

Service prices helped drive the increase. Personal services rose 3.5%, the sharpest gain in more than two years, while agricultural, livestock and fishery products rose 1.7%. Livestock prices climbed 6.0%, and the living-cost index, which tracks frequently purchased items, rose 1.8%.

Petroleum prices fell 2.4% from a year earlier, helping contain headline inflation in February. Officials said that decline was tied to earlier movements in international crude prices and that the latest Middle East shock had not yet been reflected in the monthly data.

Government officials said Lunar New Year holiday demand also pushed up prices for travel, lodging and livestock products.

The outlook has become more uncertain since the end of February. Nationwide gasoline prices moved above 1,800 won ($1.35) a liter, while prices in Seoul topped 1,900 won ($1.43), according to local reports citing Opinet, the Korea National Oil Corporation’s fuel price system.

President Lee Jae-myung has ordered officials to prepare a fuel price ceiling system, and the government has said it could invoke legal authority to set temporary maximum prices if fuel costs rise sharply. The industry ministry has also issued an early-stage alert for crude oil and natural gas supply conditions.

Analysts say higher crude prices and a weaker won could lift inflation in the coming months. ING said it raised its 2026 South Korea inflation forecast from 2.0% to 2.2%, estimating the recent oil shock could add 0.2 to 0.4 percentage point to consumer prices.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260306010001666

March 8 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1817, the New York Stock Exchange was established.

In 1913, the Internal Revenue Service began to levy and collect income taxes in the United States.

In 1914, International Women’s Day was observed on March 8 for the first time and would go on to be marked on this day annually. The United Nations began officially celebrating the day in 1977.

In 1917, strikes and riots in St. Petersburg marked the start of the Russian Bolshevik revolution.

In 1921, after Germany failed to make its first war reparation payment, French troops occupied Dusseldorf and other towns on the Ruhr River in Germany’s industrial heartland.

In 1943, Allied planes led by the Royal Air Force bombed the German city of Nuremberg, an important military manufacturing site. By the end of World War II, the vast majority of the city was destroyed by Allied bombings.

In 1957, Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international traffic after Israel withdrew from occupied Egyptian territory.

File Photo courtesy Imperial War Museum

In 1965, about 3,500 U.S. Marines landed in Da Nang, South Vietnam. It was the first deployment of a large U.S. ground combat unit to the country, marking the United States’s official entry in the Vietnam War.

In 1974, the streaking epidemic that had been gripped parts of the United States appeared to run its logical course.

In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” in a speech before the British House of Commons.

In 1990, Colombia’s M-19 leftist guerrilla group surrendered its arms, ending 16 years of insurrection.

In 1999, baseball great Joe DiMaggio died at age 84.

File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI

In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush vetoed legislation that would have outlawed severe interrogation methods such as waterboarding used by the CIA. Bush said the proposal would eliminate “one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror.”

In 2010, up to 500 people were killed in a nighttime “ethnic cleansing” raid on a village near Nigeria’s turbulent city of Jos.

In 2013, former Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem and ex-Defense Minister Oscar Camilion were convicted of smuggling weapons to Croatia and Ecuador.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 carrying 239 people vanished over the Indian Ocean en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. A massive search found no sign of the plane and a government statement months later said all aboard — 227 passengers and 12 crew members — “are presumed to have lost their lives.”

In 2022, David Bennett, a 57-year-old man who became the first to receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig, died two months after the historic surgery.

In 2024, a U.S. Defense Department report found no evidence that the U.S. government is aware of and concealing the truth about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UFOs.

File Photo by Chip Somodevilla/UPI