Briefly

DPRK

KCNA: 2nd satellite launch ends in failure

The second attempt for a reconnaissance satellite launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea failed on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. The flights of the first and second stages of the rocket were normal, but the launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third stage flight, KCNA said. The DPRK's National Aerospace Development Administration conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 aboard the new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1 at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan County of North Phyongan Province, at dawn on Thursday.

ASIA

Report: 155 million live in extreme poverty

The coronavirus pandemic and rise in the cost of living have pushed close to 70 million more people in developing Asia into extreme poverty as of last year, the Asian Development Bank said, eroding efforts to combat deprivation. In a new report released on Thursday, the ADB said an estimated 155.2 million people in developing Asia, or 3.9 percent of the region's population, lived in extreme poverty as of last year, 67.8 million more than would have been the case without the health and cost of living crises. Developing Asia consists of 46 economies in the Asia-Pacific and excludes Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $2.15 a day, based on 2017 figures.

ARGENTINA

$7.5b disbursement secured from IMF

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved the disbursement of $7.5 billion for Argentina after completing the fifth and sixth reviews of their $44 billion program, the IMF said. Various economic targets included in the program were eased, as in the fourth review, and waivers for nonobservance were also in place. Total disbursements under the arrangement are now about $36 billion. Most of the cash is being used to pay back the fund for another program.

Xinhua - Agencies