STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Military spending in Europe and Russia surged in the run-up to the Ukraine conflict despite the subduing effects of the pandemic on economic growth, data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed on Monday. Global military spending topped 2 trillion dollars for the first time ever last year, reaching $2,113 billion, up 0.7% from 2020, as expenditure rose for the seventh straight year, the influential defense think tank said. Russia lifted its military outlay by 2.9% in 2021 to $65.9 billion as it built up its forces along the Ukrainian border, SIPRI said. It was the third consecutive year of growth in Russia’s military spending, which reached 4.1% of GDP in 2021. Ukraine spent $5.9 billion on its military in 2021, less than one tenth of Russia’s budget, according to SIPRI. Total military spending in Europe amounted to $418 billion and has been rising sharply since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Military budgets rose 3.0% from 2020 and stood 19% higher than in 2012, SIPRI said.

 

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia will fully develop and invest in the Kuril islands, a Russian deputy prime minister was quoted on Monday as saying, in comments sure to further strain relations with Japan which claims the four most southern islands in the chain. Japan claims the four southern Kuril islands as its Northern Territories in a dispute that dates back to the end of World War Two and has prevented the signing of a peace treaty formally ending wartime hostilities between Moscow and Tokyo. Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev made his comments during a working visit to Russia’s far eastern Khabarovsk region, TASS news agency reported. Japan has joined its Western allies in slapping economic sanctions on Russia after it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what Moscow calls a ‘special military operation’.

 

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LONDON (Reuters) -- Many companies are failing to spell out clearly whether they comply with modern slavery laws, Britain’s corporate governance regulator said, partly for fear of triggering a public backlash. Human rights have become an important consideration for investors putting billions of pounds into assets that tout their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials. But the Financial Reporting Council said a sample of 100 annual reports of companies scrutinized by the regulator, Britain’s Independent Slavery Commissioner and Lancaster University found that one in 10 do not provide a modern slavery statement despite it being a legal requirement. The International Labor Organization has said that modern slavery generates an estimated $150 billion annually across the world, with 25 million people in forced labor. Firms in Britain with a turnover of 36 million pounds ($46 million) or more are required by law to publish annually what they are doing to address the risk of slavery in their operations and supply chains.

 

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LAGOS (AFP) -- The death toll from an explosion at an illegal refinery in southern Nigeria rose to 110, the emergency services said, as more people died from their injuries. The blast occurred late Friday at the illegal site between the southern oil states of Rivers and Imo, police said. “The death toll is now 110 from 80 as more people have succumbed to their injuries,” Ifeanyi Nnaji of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP. Ifeanyi who heads NEMA operation in the area, said dozens of people “with severe burns are still in the hospitals”. “We learnt many bodies are in nearby bushes and forests as some illegal operators and their patrons scampered to safety.” 

 

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TOKYO (AFP) -- A Japanese woman certified the world’s oldest person has died at the age of 119, local officials said Monday.

Kane Tanaka was born January 2, 1903, in the southwestern Fukuoka region of Japan, the same year the Wright brothers flew for the first time and Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Tanaka was in relatively good health until recently and lived at a nursing home, where she enjoyed board games, solving math problems, soda and chocolate. In her younger years, Tanaka ran various businesses including a noodle shop and a rice cake store. She married Hideo Tanaka a century ago in 1922, giving birth to four children and adopting a fifth. She had planned to use a wheelchair to take part in the torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but the pandemic prevented her from doing so. When the Guinness World Records recognised her as the oldest person alive in 2019, she was asked what moment she was the most happy in life. Her answer: “Now.”

 

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BEIJING (Reuters) -- China National Space Administration (CNSA) said that the country is planning more than 60 space launches in 2022 as it looks to further engage in extraterrestrial exploration and complete the building of its space station.  Sunday marked China’s seventh National Space Day. On April 24, 1970, China launched its first satellite, the Dongfanghong-1. According to the CNSA, the space launches this year will include six manned space flights, two cargo spacecraft missions, and the launch of the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules. And China is expected to complete the construction of its station Tiangong within the year. If all launches are completed as planned, China will set a new record in terms of number of space launches in a year.