MANILA: The Rohingya crisis was discussed at the ASEAN Summit, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Rob Bolivar said, despite questions about the bloc’s apparent silence on the issue at the summit, which ended on Tuesday.
“Myanmar briefed the summit on the initiatives that they are undertaking to resolve the matter, Bolivar told Arab News. “The other leaders of ASEAN and dialogue partners expressed appreciation for Myanmar’s efforts and offered any humanitarian support that Myanmar may deem appropriate,” he said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, also said that the Rohingya issue was specifically raised by two member states. He said Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi assured her fellow leaders that steps were being taken to address the plight of the Rohingya people.
Roque said Suu Kyi told ASEAN that Rohingyas who had fled to Bangladesh could return to Myanmar after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding. “Myanmar agreed that they welcome humanitarian assistance but there was no specific mention about which country will provide this,” he said.
At the 9th ASEAN-UN Summit in Manila, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had voiced concern over the displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh, saying that it was a “worrying escalation in a protracted tragedy,” a potential source of instability as well as radicalization in the region.
“Addressing the underlying issues by implementing the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine will also be critical to reverse this tragedy,” he said, highlighting that sustainable and inclusive development was the best way to prevent conflict and violent extremism.
A joint US-Philippines statement after the bilateral meeting between Trump and Duterte said that the two leaders discussed the continuing humanitarian and security crisis in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
“Both leaders called for the expeditious delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected communities, and welcomed the Myanmar government’s commitment to end the violence, restore media access, ensure the safe return of displaced persons and implement all of the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, and urged all parties to support these government commitments,” the statement said.
The theme for this year’s ASEAN summit was “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.” Topics included terrorism, countering radicalization and violent extremism, anti-trafficking, coastal and marine environment, tensions in the Korean peninsula, poverty alleviation, food security and the pursuit of innovation for ASEAN economies.
Political analyst Ramon Casiple told Arab News that “from the ASEAN point of view (the summit) was a success.”
“ASEAN has arrived as an Asian group. Duterte proved his capacity in regional politics,” he said.
US President Donald Trump also praised the Philippine leader for what he described as a “very successful hosting” of the summit.
Duterte cited the productive exchanges among the world leaders on issues of regional and global importance, which he hoped would translate into concrete actions that would benefit the region.
This year’s summit was capped by ASEAN leaders signing the “Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers”, which strengthens ASEAN cooperation in preventing abuses, exploitation and violence toward migrant workers.
Another highlight of the summit was the announcement of the start of formal negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. The issue of terrorism was also discussed with ASEAN leaders and their dialogue partners. “We vowed to work closely. We discussed it in confidential meetings,” Duterte said.
The rising tension in the Korean Peninsula was another important topic, particularly in discussions involving China and the US, the president said, adding that the region could not afford a disastrous war.
Leaders also had meetings with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and the East Asia Business Council.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Officer-in-Charge Catalino Cuy, head of the ASEAN 2017 committee on security, said: “Our hosting of the 31st ASEAN Summit was successful.” He said that the summit was generally peaceful, with no disturbances recorded throughout the two-day convention.
World leaders ‘did discuss Rohingya crisis’ at ASEAN Summit
World leaders ‘did discuss Rohingya crisis’ at ASEAN Summit
Denmark’s King Frederik to visit Greenland, daily Sermitsiaq reports
seeks a takeover
COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s King Frederik will travel to Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, on April 28, Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq reported on Wednesday, citing the island’s own government.
The visit to Greenland by Denmark’s head of state comes as US President Donald Trump
seeks a takeover by the United States of the minerals-rich and strategically important island.
Denmark has rejected Trump’s ambition and says only Greenlanders themselves can decide the territory’s future.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik-Nielsen will travel to Denmark on April 26, where he will meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, according to Sermitsiaq.
The king will travel to Greenland together with Nielsen when the prime minister returns to the island, according to the report.
Chechnya leader’s son, 17, becomes head of Chechen security council
- It is the fourth time Adam Kadyrov has been appointed to an official position since 2023, when he was 15
- He already serves as his father’s top bodyguard
The teenage son of Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region and close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been appointed secretary of the region’s security council, according to the council’s Telegram channel.
Adam Kadyrov turned 17 in November 2024. It is the fourth time he has been appointed to an official position since 2023, when he was 15.
He already serves as his father’s top bodyguard, a trustee of Chechnya’s Special Forces University, and an observer in a new army battalion.
Ramzan Kadyrov has led Chechnya, a mountainous Muslim region in southern Russia that tried to break away from Moscow in wars that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, since 2007.
He enjoys wide leeway from Putin to run Chechnya as his personal fiefdom in return for ensuring the stability of the region, where an Islamist, anti-Russian insurgency continued for around a decade after the end of full-scale conflict there in the early 2000s.
His rise to power came after his own father, Akhmat, was killed in a 2004 bombing by insurgents who saw him as a turncoat.
In September 2023, Adam Kadyrov was shown, in a video posted by his father on social media, beating a detainee accused of burning the Qur'an. Ramzan Kadyrov said he was proud of his son for defending his Muslim religion.
The detainee, Nikita Zhuravel, has since been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Russian drone strike on bus kills 9 in Ukrainian city of Marhanets, Kyiv says
- Zelensky said the Russian strike hit a bus that was transporting workers of a mining and processing plant
- “An ordinary bus. Clearly a civilian object, a civilian target,” Zelensky said
KYIV: A Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the Ukrainian city of Marhanets on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring close to 50, Kyiv officials said, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky said was a “deliberate war crime.”
Zelensky said the Russian strike hit a bus that was transporting workers of a mining and processing plant.
“An ordinary bus. Clearly a civilian object, a civilian target,” Zelensky said on X.
“It was an egregiously brutal attack – and an absolutely deliberate war crime,” he added, calling for “an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire.”
Russia fired a total of 134 attack drones at targets in Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s air force said. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Ukrainian officials arrived in London on Wednesday, even as most other big power foreign ministers pulled out, to hold talks about ways to achieve a ceasefire as a first step toward peace.
Marhanets, in south-central Ukraine, lies on the Ukrainian-controlled north bank of the Dnipro river’s dried-up reservoir that separates the warring sides.
Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak said nine people were killed in the attack and 49 were injured.
Zelensky shared photographs of the aftermath of the attack on X, showing bodies lying in and next to the bus and being carried away by emergency workers.
Zelensky added most of the injured were women.
Elsewhere, an energy plant that provides electricity to the city of Kherson near southern front lines was destroyed in an artillery and drone attack, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Ukraine’s emergency service also reported a drone strike on the Synelnykivskyi district in the Dnipropetrovsk region that injured two people and sparked a fire at an agricultural enterprise.
Russia further fired drones into the central region of Poltava, injuring at least six people, its governor said.
A drone attack on civilian infrastructure in the suburbs of the Black Sea port city of Odesa injured two people and sparked several fires, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.
Russian drone salvoes also set off large-scale fires in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, in the northeast, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
Seven private houses, a storage building and an outbuilding were also damaged by drones hitting the Kyiv capital region, where a fire also broke out in a restaurant complex, its regional governor said.
Both Russia and Ukraine are under pressure from the United States to demonstrate progress toward ending the war that began with Russia’s 2022 full-blown invasion amid warnings that US President Donald Trump could walk away from peacemaking.
Following Kashmir attack, Modi cuts short Saudi trip after talks on energy, defense
- Saudi Arabia is one of the top exporters of petroleum to India
- Modi met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before cutting short his visit
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and India agreed to boost cooperation in supplies of crude and liquefied petroleum gas, according to a joint statement reported by the Saudi state news agency on Wednesday following a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was cut short by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Saudi Arabia is one of the top exporters of petroleum to India.
Modi met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before cutting short his visit and returning to New Delhi after an attack on India’s Jammu and Kashmir territory which killed 26 people, the worst attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings.
The two countries also agreed to deepen their defense ties and improve their cooperation in defense manufacturing, along with agreements in agriculture and food security.
“The two countries welcomed the excellent cooperation between the two sides in counter-terrorism and terror financing,” the joint statement said.
Staunchly Catholic Philippines begins period of mourning for Pope Francis
- “Pope Francis holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people,” Marcos said
- Francis drew a record crowd of up to seven million people at a historic Mass in Manila during a visit in 2015
MANILA: The Philippines began a period of national mourning for Pope Francis on Wednesday, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordering flags on all state buildings across the staunchly Roman Catholic country to fly at half-mast to honor the pontiff.
Francis died on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalized.
“Pope Francis holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people,” Marcos said in a presidential proclamation, adding that the period of mourning would continue until Francis’ funeral at the Vatican on Saturday.
“The passing of Pope Francis is a moment of profound sorrow for the Catholic Church and for the Filipino people, who recognize him as global leader of compassion and tireless advocate of peace, justice and human dignity,” the proclamation said.
The Philippines is home to more than 80 million Catholics, or nearly 80 percent of the population, making it one of only two majority Christian nations in Asia along with tiny East Timor.
Francis drew a record crowd of up to seven million people at a historic Mass in Manila during a visit in 2015.
Since his death on Monday, the Catholic Church has held Masses across the Philippines for Francis.
At the Baclaran Church in Manila, some worshippers on Wednesday wore shirts bearing Pope Francis’ image — leftover merchandise from his 2015 visit.
Emma Avancena, 76, who was a volunteer during the pope’s visit, said she felt sad about his death but added: “I feel blessed because we were blessed face to face, eye to eye (during the visit).”
