Maldives in shock after explosion wounds Speaker Mohamed Nasheed

 Prominent political figure and former president undergoes surgery for wounds sustained after bomb exploded as he was about to enter his car.

Mohamed Nasheed, the former Maldives president and current speaker of parliament, remains in hospital after a bomb attack that left him with serious shrapnel wounds and the Indian Ocean archipelago in shock.

The 53-year-old had just left his house in the capital, Male, and was about to get into his car late on Thursday when a bomb attached to a motorbike exploded. Residents said the blast was heard across the city.

Nasheed sustained several wounds in the blast and was taken to hospital for treatment, including surgery. Home Minister Imran Abdulla told local media Nasheed’s injuries were not life-threatening. One of Nasheed’s bodyguards was also taken to hospital.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih went to the hospital where Nasheed, a close ally, is being treated and called an emergency meeting following the attack.

Solih said on Friday the explosion was “an attack on democracy” and the Maldives’ tourism-dependent economy, and announced that Australian federal police investigators will arrive on Saturday to assist an investigation.

Neither the president nor police have given further details on the attack and no one has claimed responsibility.

“Nasheed escaped an assassination attempt,” a Maldivian government official told AFP news agency. “He is injured, but his condition is stable.”

Images on social media showed a destroyed motorbike at the scene of the attack, which was cordoned off by armed police units and security forces.

Meanwhile, many Maldivian officials and citizens took to social media to condemn the attack and wish Nasheed a speedy recovery.

Neighbouring India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also expressed deep concern at the attack and said Nasheed “will never be intimidated”.

“This is very significant, not just in terms of scale but also in terms of target,” Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center, told Al Jazeera.

“The fact that you have a former president who is still a very prominent political figure and a very prominent democratic leader in a region that is now marked by strongmen and hardline nationalists … is quite a big deal,” Kugelman said.

China suspends economic dialogue with Australia as ties worsen

 Disputes over technology and the coronavirus pandemic have eroded relations between the two countries in recent years.

China has “indefinitely” suspended all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, its state economic planner said in the latest setback for their strained relations.

“Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination,” China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a short statement on Thursday about the decision.

The commission did not say what specific measures prompted the action.

The Australian dollar fell sharply on the news and was as low as 0.7701 to the United States dollar from $0.7747 on Wednesday.

Bilateral ties were strained in 2018 when Australia became the first country to publicly ban Chinese technology giant Huawei from its 5G network. Relations worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from China.

Australia’s trade minister, Dan Tehan, did not immediately respond to a request by the Reuters news agency for comment on China’s decision.

The last meeting under the mechanism, intended as a framework for economic cooperation, was in Beijing in 2017, when Australia’s trade minister signed an agreement on cooperation on Belt and Road projects in third-party countries.

Australia has, however, declined to sign agreements on direct participation in China’s flagship foreign policy initiative.

In April, Canberra cancelled two Belt and Road deals struck by its state of Victoria, prompting the Chinese embassy to warn that already tense bilateral ties were bound to worsen.

Veto power

Reuters reported this week that Australia was reviewing the 99-year lease of a port in its north to a Chinese firm, according to a government source.

Australia’s federal parliament was granted veto power over foreign deals by states in December amid the deepening diplomatic dispute with China, which has imposed a series of trade sanctions on Australian exports ranging from wine to coal.

In the 12 months to March, Australia exported 149 billion Australian dollars ($115.04bn) worth of goods to China, excluding services, of which iron ore was by far the largest product.

A trader said he expected the latest strains would not have a significant effect on the iron ore trade.

“We believe the iron ore trading relationship between Australia and China will remain ring-fenced in relation to current political tensions between the two nations,” said Atilla Widnell, the managing director at Singapore-based Navigate Commodities Ptd Ltd.

“This is a co-dependent relationship whereby either party cannot survive without the other.”

World’s oldest person pulls out of torch relay for Tokyo Olympics

 118-year-old Kane Tanaka cited COVID-19 concerns for cancellation as officials mull further lockdown extension.

The world’s oldest person, a 118-year-old Japanese woman, has decided not to take part in the torch relay for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics because of concerns about the coronavirus, an official at her nursing home said on Wednesday, casting more shadows over an event, which is already facing significant hurdles including a possible lockdown extension.

Kane Tanaka, who is named in the Guinness World Records, was slated to be one of the relay participants in Fukuoka in southern Japan, which will start on May 11, the official said.

“We received an email from her family which said she wanted to withdraw from the relay as she and her family were concerned about spreading the virus at the nursing home,” they said.

The Olympic torch relay, which kicked off in March, has been undermined by the surge in coronavirus in Japan, which has led to restrictions being imposed in main cities including Tokyo and Osaka.

Six people who helped with the torch relay were diagnosed with COVID-19, the Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases involved in the event to eight.

Some celebrities who were due to take part have withdrawn from the relay due to safety reasons.

The government is considering an extension to the state of emergency measures first announced last month, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, officials were leaning towards an extension of the measures in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures beyond May 11.

Persistent doubts

Osaka reported 884 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to public broadcaster NHK, and hospital capacity for seriously ill patients has reportedly exceeded 99 percent.

With the continuing surge in cases, Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi cast doubt on Tuesday that a state of emergency in the western prefecture could be ended.

Daily cases also remain high in Tokyo with 609 infections reported on Tuesday. At least 65 of the patients are said to be in a serious condition.

Extending the measures, which were imposed on April 25, is likely to further fan doubts about whether the Games, scheduled to begin on July 23, can still go ahead as planned.

The games have already been delayed by a year as a result of the pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet senior government ministers on Wednesday to discuss an extension, the Yomiuri reported without citing its sources.

It did not detail how long an extension might be but the governor of Osaka Prefecture said an extension of three weeks to a month may be necessary, according to other domestic media.

Calls by the Reuters news agency to Suga’s office were not answered. Japan’s government buildings and financial markets were closed on Wednesday for the annual Golden Week holidays.

Under the state of emergency in Tokyo and other urban areas, the government has required restaurants, bars, and karaoke parlours serving alcohol to shut.

Large department stores and cinemas have also been closed and spectators banned from big sporting events.