ASEAN leaders tell Myanmar coup maker to end killings, resume dialogue

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Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather in Jakarta on April 24, 2021. (Indonesian Presidential Palace photo via AFP)
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Updated 25 April 2021
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ASEAN leaders tell Myanmar coup maker to end killings, resume dialogue

  • Daily shootings by police and soldiers since the Feb. 1 coup have killed more than 700 mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders
  • Myanmar senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing told that a dialogue between contending parties in his country should immediately start

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Southeast Asian leaders demanded an immediate end to killings and the release of political detainees in Myanmar in an emergency summit Saturday with its top general and coup leader, Indonesia’s president said.
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also told Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during the two-hour talks in Jakarta that a dialogue between contending parties in Myanmar should immediately start, with the help of ASEAN envoys, President Joko Widodo said.
“The situation in Myanmar is unacceptable and should not continue. Violence must be stopped, democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be returned immediately,” Widodo said during the meeting. “The interests of the people of Myanmar must always be the priority.”
Daily shootings by police and soldiers since the Feb. 1 coup have killed more than 700 mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders, according to several independent tallies.
The messages conveyed to Min Aung Hlaing were unusually blunt and could be seen as a breach of the conservative 10-nation bloc’s bedrock principle forbidding member states from interfering in each other’s domestic affairs. But Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that policy should not lead to inaction if a domestic situation “jeopardizes the peace, security, and stability of ASEAN and the wider region” and there is international clamor for resolute action.
“There is a tremendous expectation on the part of the international community on how ASEAN is addressing the Myanmar issue. The pressure is increasing,” Muhyiddin said, The current ASEAN chair, Brunei Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, and the regional bloc’s secretary general should be allowed access to Myanmar to meet contending parties, encourage dialogue and come up with “an honest and unbiased observation,” he said.
Such a political dialogue “can only take place with the prompt and unconditional release of political detainees,” the Malaysian premier said.
A formal statement issued by ASEAN through Brunei after the summit outlined the demands made by the six heads of state and three foreign ministers in more subtle terms. It asked for the “immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar” and urged all parties to “exercise utmost restraint,” but omitted the demand voiced by Widodo and other leaders for the immediate release of political detainees. It said ASEAN would provide humanitarian aid to Myanmar.
It was not immediately clear if and how Min Aung Hlaing responded to the blunt messages.
It was the first time he traveled out of Myanmar since the coup, which was followed by the arrests of Aung San Suu Kyi and many other political leaders.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed hopes on the eve of the summit that “we can reach an agreement on the next steps that can help the people of Myanmar get out of this delicate situation.”
ASEAN’s diversity, including the divergent ties of many of its members to either China or the United States, along with a bedrock policy of non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs and deciding by consensus, has hobbled the bloc’s ability to rapidly deal with crises.
Amid Western pressure, however, the regional group has struggled to take a more forceful position on issues but has kept to its non-confrontational approach.
Critics have said ASEAN’s decision to meet the coup leader was unacceptable and amounted to legitimizing the overthrow and the deadly crackdown that followed. ASEAN states agreed to meet Min Aung Hlaing but did not treat or address him as Myanmar’s head of state in the summit, a Southeast Asian diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.
The London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Indonesia and other ASEAN states ahead of the summit to investigate Min Aung Hlaing over “credible allegations of responsibility for crimes against humanity in Myanmar.” As a state party to a UN convention against torture, Indonesia has a legal obligation to prosecute or extradite a suspected perpetrator on its territory, it said.
Indonesian police dispersed dozens of protesters opposing the coup and the junta leader’s visit. More than 4,300 police fanned out across the Indonesian capital to secure the meetings, held under strict safeguards amid the pandemic.
The leaders of Thailand and the Philippines skipped the summit to deal with coronavirus outbreaks back home. Laos also canceled at the last minute. The face-to-face summit is the first by ASEAN leaders in more than a year.
Aside from Myanmar, the regional bloc is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

 


Don’t let deep sea become ‘wild west’, Guterres tells world leaders

Updated 58 min 31 sec ago
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Don’t let deep sea become ‘wild west’, Guterres tells world leaders

  • United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans “become the wild west,” at the start in France of a global summit on the seas

NICE: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans “become the wild west,” at the start in France of a global summit on the seas.
World leaders are attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as nations tussle over contentious rules on mining the seabed for critical minerals and the terms of a global treaty on plastic pollution.
US President Donald Trump has brought urgency to the debate around deep-sea mining, moving to fast-track US exploration in international waters and sidestepping global efforts to regulate the nascent sector.
The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths.
Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these “new waters on seabed mining.”
“The deep sea cannot become the wild west,” he said, to applause from the plenary floor.
Many countries oppose seabed mining, and France is hoping more nations in Nice will join a moratorium until more is known about the ecological impacts of the practice.
French President Emmanuel Macron said a moratorium on deep-sea mining was “an international necessity.”
“I think it’s madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks — when we know nothing about it,” the French president said.
The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were “not for sale,” he said in follow up remarks to thunderous applause.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for “clear action” from the seabed authority to end a “predatory race” among nations seeking critical minerals on the ocean floor.
“We now see the threat of unilateralism looming over the ocean. We cannot allow what happened to international trade to happen to the sea,” he said.

Macron said a global pact to protect marine life in international waters had received enough support to become law and was “a done deal.”
The high seas treaty struck in 2023 requires ratifications from 60 signatory countries to enter into force, something France hoped to achieve before Nice.
Macron said about 50 nations had ratified the treaty and 15 others had formally committed to joining them.
This “allows us to say that the high seas treaty will be implemented,” he said.
Other commitments are expected on Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government have joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists.
On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda.
Bottom trawling involves huge fishing nets indiscriminately dragging the ocean floor, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough.
Macron said on Saturday that France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas but was criticized by environment groups for not going far enough.

On Sunday, French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher hinted at “important announcements” during Nice about the creation of new marine protected areas.
Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 percent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks.
Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030.
But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones or lack the finance to enforce any regulations.
Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection.
Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks.
The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation.
But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion.
“We say to you, if you are serious about protecting the ocean, prove it,” said President Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau, a low-lying Pacific nation.


Italians head to polls in referendum on citizenship and labor, but vote risks sinking on low turnout

Updated 09 June 2025
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Italians head to polls in referendum on citizenship and labor, but vote risks sinking on low turnout

  • Opinion polls published in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the issues driving the referendums

ROME: Italians headed to the polls Monday on the second and final day of referendums that would make it easier for children born in Italy to foreigners to obtain citizenship, and on providing more job protections. But partial data showed a low turnout, well below the required 50 percent plus one threshold, risking to invalidate the vote.

Campaigners for the change in the citizenship law say it will help second-generation Italians born in the country to non- European Union parents better integrate into a culture they already see as theirs.

Partial data from Italy’s Interior Ministry published at 2100 GMT on Sunday showed that national turnout stood at 22.7 percent, just over half of the 41 percent registered at the same time of the day in the latest comparable referendum held in 2011. The polling stations close later Monday at 1300 GMT.

The new rules, if passed, could affect about 2.5 million foreign nationals who still struggle to be recognized as citizens.

The measures were proposed by Italy’s main union and left-wing opposition parties. Premier Giorgia Meloni showed up at the polls on Sunday evening but didn’t cast a ballot — an action widely criticized by the left as antidemocratic, since it won’t contribute to reaching the necessary threshold to make the vote valid.

“While some members of her ruling coalition have openly called for abstention, Meloni has opted for a more subtle approach,” said analyst Wolfango Piccoli of the Teneo consultancy based in London. ”It’s yet another example of her trademark fence-sitting.’’

Rights at stake

Supporters say this reform would bring Italy’s citizenship law in line with many other European countries, promoting greater social integration for long-term residents. It would also allow faster access to civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, eligibility for public employment and freedom of movement within the EU.

“The real drama is that neither people who will vote ‘yes’ nor those who intend to vote ‘no’ or abstain have an idea of what (an) ordeal children born from foreigners have to face in this country to obtain a residence permit,” said Selam Tesfaye, an activist and campaigner with the Milan-based human rights group Il Cantiere.

Activists and opposition parties also denounced the lack of public debate on the measures, accusing the governing center-right coalition of trying to dampen interest in sensitive issues that directly impact immigrants and workers.

In May, Italy’s AGCOM communications authority lodged a complaint against RAI state television and other broadcasters over a lack of adequate and balanced coverage.

Opinion polls published in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the issues driving the referendums. Turnout projections were even weaker for a vote scheduled for the first weekend of Italy’s school holidays, at around 35 percent of around 50 million electors, well below the required quorum.

“Many believe that the referendum institution should be reviewed in light of the high levels of abstention (that) emerged in recent elections and the turnout threshold should be lowered,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst and pollster at YouTrend.

Some analysts note, however, that the center-left opposition could claim a victory even if the referendum fails on condition that the turnout surpasses the 12.3 million voters who backed the winning center-right coalition in the 2022 general election.


Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in the war’s biggest overnight drone bombardment

Updated 09 June 2025
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Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in the war’s biggest overnight drone bombardment

  • Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight

KYIV, Ukraine: Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the war ‘s biggest overnight drone bombardment, the Ukrainian air force said Monday.

Apart from drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight, an air force statement said, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim.

Russia’s aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, because drones are harder to spot in the dark.

Russia has relentlessly battered civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the more than 3-year war. The attacks have killed more that 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

Russia says it targets only military targets.


‘Better if he was dead’: Kenyan mother’s search for son year after protests

Updated 09 June 2025
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‘Better if he was dead’: Kenyan mother’s search for son year after protests

  • Susan Wangari has lost count of the morgues, hospitals and police stations she has visited in search of her son, who went missing at the height of Kenya’s mass protests last June

NAIROBI: Susan Wangari has lost count of the morgues, hospitals and police stations she has visited in search of her son, who went missing at the height of Kenya’s mass protests last June.
She last saw Emmanuel Mukuria, 24, on the morning of June 25, 2024, the day that thousands of Kenyan youths thronged the streets of Nairobi and stormed parliament in protest at planned tax rises and corruption.
“It would be better if my son were dead; at least I could visit his grave,” she told AFP.
Rights groups say at least 60 people were killed during the protests in June and July, and more than 80 abducted by the security forces since then, with dozens still missing.
Mukuria’s friends say he was arrested during the protests in the city center, where he worked as a minibus tout.
“We do not have peace in this house,” his mother, 50, told AFP during a visit to her single-room home in the Kasarani slum area.
“I sleep lightly at night in case he comes knocking at my window like he always did,” she said.
“Every time we hear that bodies have been found somewhere, we are anxious to know whose they are.”
Two men told her they shared a cell with Mukuria, but they are too afraid to speak publicly about their ordeal.
One was only released in February, giving her hope that her son is still alive in captivity.
“They told me they were beaten and questioned about the protests. They were being asked who paid them to participate,” Wangari said.
Last month, President William Ruto, in a clear admission that security forces had engaged in kidnappings, said all those abducted during the protests had been “returned to their families.”
Rights groups say dozens are still missing and police have shown little progress in investigating the disappearances despite Ruto claiming an “accountability mechanism” was put in place.
Questioned by AFP, the president’s office said the police were “handling the brief,” while a police spokesman referred AFP back to the president’s office.
The police spokesman said they had no information on Mukuria’s case. An officer-in-charge at the station where Wangari reported him missing said the matter was still under investigation.
Many other families are still dealing with the aftermath of the violence.
Rex Masai, 29, was the first to die during the protests, shot and killed in the city center on June 20.
The inquest into his death is still dragging on.
“We are hoping for the best but we are not near the truth,” Masai’s mother Gillian Munyao told AFP at her home, where a photo of her dreadlocked son hangs on the wall.
She found her son lying lifeless in a pool of blood at a clinic where he was taken that day.
The state prosecutor has said a lack of witnesses has delayed progress in the case.
One potential witness was scared off for fear he might be “forcibly disappeared” by the police, Munyao said.
Hussein Khalid, head of rights group Vocal Africa, blamed a “lack of cooperation by the authorities.”
“When you get evidence, the unfortunate bit is you have to take it to the police themselves,” he said.
He lost count of the number of funerals he attended after the protests, estimating between 20 and 30.
“Was it necessary to unleash this kind of brute force against young, innocent Kenyans?” he said.
Politicians have shown little interest in accountability or learning from the unrest.
“People were killed, we sympathized, we moved on,” Bashir Abdullahi, a member of the ruling coalition, told parliament during a debate on the protests last month.
But for victim’s families, the search for justice “means a lot,” said Masai’s father, Chrispin Odawa.
“The wound will never heal,” he said.


As the UN Ocean Conference opens in France, a push to turn promises into protection

Updated 09 June 2025
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As the UN Ocean Conference opens in France, a push to turn promises into protection

  • A major focus of the summit is the push to ratify the High Seas Treaty, which would enable conservation in international waters
  • France claims progress but has been criticized for weak enforcement in many protected areas. The conference will also address climate funding

NICE:The third UN Ocean Conference opens Monday as pressure mounts for nations to turn decades of promises into real protection for the sea.
The summit comes as just 2.7 percent of the ocean is effectively protected from destructive extractive activities, according to the nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute. That’s far below the target agreed under the “30x30” pledge to conserve 30 percent of land and sea by 2030.
Atop this year’s agenda is ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Adopted in 2023, the treaty would for the first time allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and are largely ungoverned.
“It’s the Wild West out there with countries just fishing anywhere without any sort of regulation, and that needs to change,” said Mauro Randone, regional projects manager at the World Wildlife Fund’s Mediterranean Marine Initiative. “The high seas belong to everyone and no one practically at the same time, and countries are finally committing to establish some rules.”
The ocean is critical in stabilizing Earth’s climate and sustaining life. It generates 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs around 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and captures more than 90 percent of the excess heat caused by those emissions. Without a healthy ocean, experts warn, climate goals will remain out of reach.
The treaty will only come into force once 60 countries ratify it. As of Monday, just 32 countries had. Advocates hope UNOC can build enough momentum to cross the threshold, which would allow for the first official Oceans Conference of Parties.
“Two-thirds of the ocean is areas beyond national jurisdiction — that’s half our planet,” said Minna Epps, director of global ocean policy the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We cannot possibly protect 30 percent of the ocean if it doesn’t include the high seas.”
South Korea, France and the European Union have championed the treaty, but most large ocean nations have yet to ratify it, including the rest of the G20. Thousands of attendees are expected in Nice — from delegates and heads of state to scientists and industry leaders. The United States has yet to confirm a formal delegation.
Moving from protections on paper to something real

Beyond new commitments, the conference highlights the growing gap between marine protection declarations and real-world conservation.
France, the conference co-host, claims to have surpassed the 30 percent target for marine protection. But environmental groups say only 3 percent of French waters are fully protected from harmful activities like bottom trawling and industrial fishing.
In 2024 alone, more than 100 bottom-trawling vessels were recorded spending over 17,000 hours fishing within France’s six marine nature parks, according to ocean advocacy group Oceana.
“The government declares these as protected areas, but this is a lie,” said Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas marine reserve project. “Most of it is political box-ticking. It’s all paper parks.”
That criticism is echoed across the continent. A new World Wildlife Fund report found that although more than 11 percent of Europe’s marine area is designated for protection, just 2 percent of EU waters have management plans in place.
Fabien Boileau, director of marine protected areas at France’s Office for Biodiversity, acknowledged the presence of bottom trawling in French protected areas, but said it was part of a phased strategy.
“In France, we made the choice to designate large marine protected areas with relatively low levels of regulation at first, betting that stronger protections would be developed over time through local governance,” he said. “Today, we’re gradually increasing the number of zones with stricter protections within those areas.”
France’s Port-Cros: A model for conservation

While many marine protected areas struggle with enforcement, others show what real protection can achieve. Off the southern coast of France, Port-Cros National Park is one of the oldest marine reserves in the Mediterranean. There, strict anchoring bans have allowed vast seagrass meadows to grow undisturbed. Massive groupers patrol rocky outcrops, brightly colored nudibranchs munch on algae, and schools of large corbs glide through the shallows, undisturbed by fishing lines.
“Thanks to the protections that have been in place since 1963, we can observe species that are much larger than elsewhere in the Mediterranean and at a much higher density than in other areas,” said Hubert Flavigny, manager of Mio Palmo dive center in Hyeres, France.
Still, such examples remain exceptions.
Advocates say industrial fishing lobbies continue to resist stricter protections, despite evidence that well-managed reserves boost long-term fisheries through the “spillover effect,” whereby marine life flourishes in nearby waters.
“Protection is not the problem — overfishing is the problem,” said Sala. “The worst enemy of the fishing industry is themselves.”
Frustrated by government inaction, environmental groups have taken enforcement into their own hands. In May, Greenpeace dropped 15 limestone boulders into France’s Golfe du Lion, aiming to physically block bottom trawling in a marine area that has long been designated for protection. The protected zone was established in 2008 to preserve deep-sea ecosystems, yet 12 trawlers continue to operate there, despite scientific warnings of ecological collapse, according to activist group MedReAct. The Golfe is now one of the most overfished areas in the Mediterranean.
What will UNOC deliver?
The conference will feature 10 panels on topics such as blue finance, sustainable fisheries and plastic pollution. Deep sea mining is expected to feature in broader discussions, while small island states are likely to use the platform to advocate for increased climate adaptation funding. The outcome of these discussions will form the basis of the Nice Ocean Action Plan — a declaration of voluntary commitments to be adopted by consensus and presented at the United Nations in New York this July.
“There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean,” said Peter Thomson, UN special envoy for the ocean. “It’s urgent business for us all.”