MANILA: Two Southeast Asian diplomats say disagreements over North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests and territorial disputes in the South China Sea have prevented the region’s top diplomats from promptly issuing their joint communique after an annual summit in Manila over the weekend.
One of the diplomats tells The Associated Press that Cambodia expressed concern over the issuance by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ foreign ministers of a separate statement criticizing North Korea’s two ICBM tests last month.
The diplomat said Sunday Cambodia wants its sentiments on the Korean Peninsula better reflected in the ASEAN foreign ministers’ joint communique, causing a delay in its issuance Saturday after the ministers concluded their meeting.
Another diplomat says the wordings on the South China Sea issue to be included in the communique had not yet been finalized Saturday.
The diplomat says the South China Sea may be settled faster and will likely not carry sensitive issues that China objects to because the ministers are aware of Beijing’s crucial economic and trade relations with ASEAN member states.
Both diplomats spoke to the AP condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issues publicly.
— Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines
A Philippine government spokesman says Southeast Asian foreign ministers have endorsed the framework for a long-sought code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea.
The ministers endorsed the framework on Saturday, a day before meeting with their Chinese counterpart, when they are expected to jointly adopt it.
The Philippines calls the framework a major step in efforts to ease potential flashpoints. It’s not clear if the ministers will push for a legally binding code.
Critics say the outline of key principles is lopsidedly in China’s favor and suspect that Beijing may have consented to it to divert protests as it tries to complete and fortify man-made islands in the South China Sea with a missile defense system.
Robespierre L. Bolivar, spokesman of the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, said the foreign ministers “endorsed the framework of the code of conduct for eventual adoption at the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting on Aug. 6.”
Bolivar said the Philippines prefers a legally binding code of conduct but the consensus in ASEAN is that at the very least, the code that is still to be negotiated should be substantive and effective. He said the framework is an outline and countries can put in more substantive aspects of the code when the negotiations start.
Southeast Asia’s top diplomats have slammed North Korea with a sharp rebuke over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests and reminded Pyongyang of its duty to avoid conflicts as a member of Asia’s biggest security forum.
The 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reiterated in a joint statement Saturday their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North’s two ICBM tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said earlier that the ASEAN ministers were divided over a US proposal to remove North Korea from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-member grouping that includes the North, along with its most bitter adversaries — South Korea, the United States and Japan.
Southeast Asia’s top diplomats have opened their annual meeting at a convention and theater complex by Manila Bay without the usual security overkill. Motorists were allowed through as joggers, cyclists and tennis players sweated under a cloudy sky.
Public traffic was only stopped when the foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, arrived midmorning Saturday.
According to metropolitan Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has shown disdain for security lockdowns that inconvenience the public. Still, police deployed more than 13,000 officers in the capital and declared no-fly and no-sail zones around the venue.
Topping the agenda are North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests, an attempt to temper South China Sea disputes and unease over a siege by pro-Daesh group militants in the southern Philippine city of Marawi, which has dragged on for more than two months.
Disagreements in ASEAN delay joint statement
Disagreements in ASEAN delay joint statement
Pakistan eyes $25 billion IT exports in three years, 5G rollout despite roadblocks
- Pakistan’s IT exports face significant challenges due to Internet connectivity issues stemming from firewall installations to regulate content
- In August, the Pakistan Software Houses Association said the country’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reaffirmed Pakistan’s ambitions to boost its information technology (IT) exports to $25 billion in the next three years and to roll out 5G Internet services, despite challenges from firewall installations.
The Pakistan prime minister expressed these plans during his meeting with a delegation of VEON, an Amsterdam-based multinational telecommunication and digital services company, led by its chairman Augie K. Fabela, to discuss his government’s efforts to “develop and promote” the telecommunications sector, according to Sharif’s office.
The South Asian country’s IT exports face significant challenges due to Internet connectivity issues stemming from firewall installations to regulate content and social media platforms that hinder the ability of local tech firms to communicate with international clients. This results in delayed deliveries, loss of business opportunities and a tarnished reputation for Pakistan’s IT industry, ultimately stifling growth and costing millions of rupees in losses.
In August, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said the country’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall. However, State Minister for IT Shaza Khawaja repeatedly denied the use of firewalls by the government as a form of censorship.
“We are determined to achieve the target of increasing IT exports from Pakistan to 25 billion dollars in the next three years,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office. “Steps are being taken to introduce 5G Internet services for faster and reliable Internet services in Pakistan.”
Sharif said the rollout of 5G services would make it possible for his government to achieve the vision of “Digital Pakistan.” He said the telecommunications sector would play an important role in promoting a cashless and digital economy, praising the work of a VEON subsidiary, Jazz Group, and expressing his government’s willingness to promote IT, digitization and artificial intelligence (AI) in Pakistan.
The visiting delegation appreciated the Pakistani government’s efforts to stabilize the economy and termed Pakistan an important country for investment in the IT sector, according to Sharif’s office.
Pakistan recorded $298 million in IT exports in June, up 33 percent from the year before. During the fiscal year that ended in June, Pakistan recorded overall IT exports of $3.2 billion, up 24 percent from $2.5 billion in the previous year.
The South Asian nation has lately encouraged its IT sector and facilitated collaborations with firms in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, China and Qatar, to boost its IT exports.
However, IT-related associations and businesses this year raised alarm over slowing Internet speeds as the federal government moved to implement the nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow authorities to identify addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.”
In August, the Pakistan Business Council warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.”
Ancient Italian masterpieces arrive in AlUla for first regional exhibit at Maraya
DUBAI: The Royal Commission for AlUla has partnered with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples to bring ancient masterpieces from its renowned collection to Saudi Arabia and the region for the first time.
The agreement between RCU and MANN will facilitate the transport of a curated collection of artifacts from Naples to AlUla for the “Masterpieces of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples” exhibit.
This exhibit, a highlight of AlUla’s 2024 Ancient Kingdoms Festival, is on display at Maraya, the world’s largest mirrored building, until Dec. 14.
Fifteen masterpieces from ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum and Rome are being presented to a regional audience for the first time, marking a historic debut outside Italy.
The Nilotic Mosaic, displayed abroad only once before in Japan, will also be featured.
Abdulrahman Al-Suhaibani, vice president of culture at the RCU, said: “The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is a repository of masterpieces that reveal the wonders and richly interconnected stories that helped shaped the ancient world — key among them are Nabataean artifacts including alters and inscriptions dedicated to the Nabataean chief deity Dushares that show the extent of that civilization, from AlUla in northwest Arabia to the shores of southern Europe.”
“It’s a privilege for RCU to host the masterpieces of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples exhibit and to display its wonderful collection of ancient artifacts for the first time in the region as we build toward an exciting calendar of cultural events, including the AlUla World Archaeological Symposium and the Ancient Kingdom’s Festival,” he said.
Lebanon state media says Israel blows up houses in 3 border villages
- ‘Since this morning, the Israeli enemy’s army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area’
BEIRUT: Lebanon state media said the Israeli army on Friday detonated explosives planted inside houses in three border villages that have been battered by the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“Since this morning, the Israeli enemy’s army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area, with the aim of destroying residential homes there,” the official National News Agency said, the latest in a string of similar incidents that have impacted the flashpoint border area.
Notre Dame bells ring out in Paris for first time since 2019 fire
PARIS: The bells of Notre Dame in Paris rang out together on Friday for the first time since a 2019 fire that devastated the historic cathedral, AFP reporters said.
The sound of the eight bells in Notre Dame’s northern belfry came a month before the cathedral is to reopen following five years of painstaking restoration work in the wake of the blaze.
“This is a beautiful, important and symbolic step,” said Philippe Jost, who runs the public body tasked with restoring the cathedral under challenging circumstances.
On the evening of April 19, 2019 Parisians and the world watched in horror as flames ravaged the world heritage landmark and then toppled its spire.
President Emmanuel Macron quickly set the ambitious goal to rebuild Notre Dame within five years and make it “even more beautiful” than before.
Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilized for a restoration costing hundreds of millions of euros.
Friday shortly before 10:30 am (0930 GMT), the bells sounded one by one until all eight chimed in harmony.
“It’s not perfect yet, but we will make it perfect,” said Alexandre Gougeon who is in charge of the re-installation of the bells. “This first test was a success.”
The 2019 fire destroyed part of the northern belfry, requiring it to be restored and the bells to be removed, cleaned of dust and lead, and then returned to their space.
The heaviest bell, called “Gabriel,” weighs over four tons, and the lightest, “Jean-Marie,” 800 kilogrammes.
A weekend of ceremonies is to mark Notre-Dame’s reopening on December 7 and 8.
Suffering in Gaza ‘almost unparalleled’: Humanitarian chief
- Norwegian Refugee Council secretary-general: Palestinians pushed ‘beyond breaking point’
- Jan Egeland: Gaza rendered ‘uninhabitable’ due Israel’s policies
LONDON: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are experiencing “almost unparalleled” suffering, one of the world’s foremost humanitarian officials has warned following a visit to the enclave, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, traveled to Gaza this week, reporting that families, widows and children have been pushed “beyond breaking point” by Israel’s year-long war.
He witnessed “scene after scene of absolute despair” as Palestinian families had been torn apart by attacks, with survivors unable to bury their dead relatives.
Gaza has been rendered “uninhabitable” as a result of Israel’s policies, supported by Western-supplied weaponry, Egeland said.
“This is in no way a lawful response, a targeted operation of ‘self-defence’ to dismantle armed groups, or warfare consistent with humanitarian law,” he added.
“The families, widows and children I have spoken to are enduring suffering almost unparalleled to anywhere in recent history. There is no possible justification for continued war and destruction.”
Since last year, families across the enclave have been repeatedly forced to move from one area to another as a result of Israeli evacuation orders, which now cover 80 percent of Gaza.
The situation is even more dire in northern Gaza, where a month-long Israeli offensive and siege have cut off an estimated 100,000 people from humanitarian aid.
An Israeli brigadier general said this week that there is no intention of allowing the return of Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza.
Such a policy of forcible transfer would amount to war crimes, humanitarian law experts have said.
As aid continues to be cut off from the Palestinian population, the UN has condemned “unlawful interference with humanitarian assistance and orders that are leading to forced displacement.”
Egeland warned of the “catastrophic impact of strangled aid flows” on the Palestinian population, with people left unable to access food or water for days at a time.
The former Norwegian foreign minister and diplomat said: “There has not been a single week since the start of this war when sufficient aid was delivered in Gaza.”
Despite the acute shortage of humanitarian aid, Israel’s parliament this week passed bills banning the UN Relief & Works Agency from operating in the Occupied Territories, designating it as a terrorist organization.
Egeland called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to prevent the “deadly” situation from worsening, adding: “Those in power on all sides act with impunity, while millions across Gaza and the region pay a terrible price.
“Humanitarians can speak out on what we are seeing, but only those in power can end this nightmare.”
